Thieves steal catalytic converter while driver was in movie theater

CHARLOTTE — A woman found out that while she was in a movie theater enjoying a film Wednesday night, someone stole the catalytic converter from her car while it was in the parking lot.

It only takes a couple minutes for a thief to steal the car part, which is popular on the black market for its expensive metals. Catalytic converts are also easy to steal and hard to track.

The victim was at AMC Concord Mills 24 to watch “Thor: Love and Thunder” before heading off to college.

“We received a phone call at 1 o’clock in the morning and our daughter said she was calling the tow truck,” said the victim’s father, Thomas Butler.

The dad told Channel 9 that the part would have cost $1,800 without insurance.

No arrests have been made.

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Officials put safety measures in place at the mall to protect shoppers, including license-plate reading cameras along the Concord Mills corridor.

The mall also started a policy to require anyone underage to have a chaperone during certain hours on the weekends.

(Watch the video below: Catalytic converters: What you need to know)

Catalytic converters: What you need to know (NCD)

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