VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) A Virginia Beach church has become the latest target of theft. Someone stole the catalytic converter off the churchs van.<\/p>\n
Virginia Beach police said a string of similar thefts have been happening around the city.<\/p>\n
VBPD told 10 On Your Side that there have been at least 20 larcenies catalytic converters just this month.<\/p>\n
Catalytic converters are a part of a vehicles exhaust system and contain precious metals. They can be sold for a couple hundred dollars, at times.<\/p>\n
One of those incidents happened at Ebenezer Baptist Church off Baker Road.<\/p>\n
Pastor R. Perez Gatling said seeing surveillance footage of the theft was hard to watch.<\/p>\n
We felt violated, Gatling said.<\/p>\n
It happened earlier in January. A deacon discovered the damage after arriving for Sunday services. A review of the cameras showed a silver car pull in next to the van.<\/p>\n
The driver had the license plate covered, Gatling said. We could see the driver get out with the flashlight and he maneuvered between the two vehicles.<\/p>\n
The church filed a police report. Gatling was shocked by what he said a detective shared.<\/p>\n
He told one of my trustees that 250 churches had been hit in similar fashion between here and Richmond since the beginning of the year, Gatling said.<\/p>\n
VBPDcould only provide the number of catalytic converter thefts that occurred in the city, which is at least 20 so far in January alone.<\/p>\n
However,the department told 10 On Your Side therehas been a large number of catalytic converters reported stolen throughout the region.<\/p>\n
Gatling said he mentioned the theft at his church on a Zoom call with other pastors from the Tidewater Metro Baptist Ministers Conference.<\/p>\n
Several of the pastors spoke up, Gatling said. Itsnot an isolated incident. It really scared me once I realize how pervasive this problem was.<\/p>\n
Not only will repairs cost hundreds of dollars, but the van will also be out of service for a few weeks.<\/p>\n
This person has inhibited our ability to serve our parishioners who need the handicap accessible van to come to worship, Gatling said.<\/p>\n
He said hell be praying for whoever did it and even invited that person to come back so the church can help.<\/p>\n
We dont want anybody to be hit, Gatling said. We just want it to stop.<\/p>\n
Police encourage the public to install security cameras. They said it may not always deter the crime but can help investigators trying to solve them.<\/p>\n
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Virginia Beach church latest target in string of catalytic converter larcenies around city - WAVY.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) A Virginia Beach church has become the latest target of theft. Continue reading