Tag: theft

Tougher penalties proposed for those who roam neighborhoods checking car doors

      One state lawmaker says too many Missourians don’t feel safe in their own neighborhoods, and he believes tougher laws are the answer. A House panel has endorsed his proposal.

Representative Jim Murphy (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

      Representative Jim Murphy (R-St. Louis) says groups of individuals are routinely going through neighborhoods in his south St. Louis County district seeking opportunities to steal from homes and cars.  This typically involves pulling door handles on multiple cars, looking for those that are unlocked.

      “This is happening every night in St. Louis County, every single night.  If you have a Ring doorbell you get these neighborhood alerts.  Every single day I get, oh they’re checking doors in this neighborhood, they’re checking doors in that neighborhood.  It’s just something now that is neighborhood terrorism,” Murphy told the House Committee on Crime Prevention and Public Safety. 

      “They also go and check for the garage door openers, and they open the garage door and they go in and pilfer the garage.  They’ve gotten more bold, because now not only are they doing that but they see you have cameras, so what they do is they show their weapons daring you to come out.”

      Murphy told his colleagues that the people committing these acts feel no fear of punishment.  He said the way Missouri statutes are written doesn’t cover these acts, or they fall under crimes which carry too little punishment.  In incidents involving juveniles, the penalties are so lenient that when law enforcement does catch them in these acts, they are often simply let go.    

      He is sponsoring House Bill 1510, which would create the crime of “unlawfully gaining entry into a motor vehicle,” defined by the act of lifting the handles of, or otherwise attempting to open, the doors of successive vehicles in an attempt to gain entry.  It would be a class E felony, punishable by up to four years in jail and a fine of up to $10,000. 

      It would also extend the crime of second-degree burglary to include unlawfully entering a vehicle, or any part of a vehicle, with the intent to commit a felony or theft.  A person could commit such an offense with any part of the body, or with an object connected with the body.  Burglary is a class D felony, which carries up to seven years in prison.  If a person violating this provision has or steals a firearm, it would be a class C felony, punishable by three to ten years in prison.

      “I voted for it in the past, I intend to vote for it now,” Representative Robert Sauls (D-Independence) told Murphy, but he questioned the design of the legislation.  He and others on the committee asked whether these acts could fall under existing crimes without creating a new offense.

      Murphy said it’s time to be more pointed.

      “Doesn’t it send a message?  If there’s a law out there that says you can’t tamper with, pull a door handle … now the word’s out,” Murphy said.  “I think you really need it to be specific to make it known that this is the crime.”

      At least one committee member, Representative Holly Jones (R-Eureka), said she is in full support.

      “This has happened to me in my driveway, in my neighborhood.  They have come through my neighborhood and opened garage doors stealing things out of the garage, they have tried getting into the vehicles, some other vehicles have been damaged on the inside … This is absolutely ridiculous because there are no consequences,” Jones told Murphy. 

      The committee has voted to advance that bill. It will next be considered by another committee, and from there could be sent to the full House for consideration.

Attempt to stem catalytic converter thefts to return in 2024 session

      Legislators will again this year be asked to stem the thefts of catalytic converters from Missourians and in doing so, it is hoped, get some people into drug treatment programs that could improve their lives.

Representative Don Mayhew (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

      The House in the last two years has given overwhelming approval to bills that would make such thefts a felony, while requiring additional reporting to the state from entities that purchase catalytic converters.  The same proposal will be among those filed for the 2024 session after prefiling begins on December 1.

      Representative Don Mayhew (R-Crocker) says that the bill has been refined over several sessions.

      “I think at this point we have vetted this thing to death,” said Mayhew.

      The proposal’s bipartisan support includes Representative Aaron Crossley (D-Independence), who has himself filed a portion of that language.  He said the issue has impacted his neighborhood and workplace.  

       “My neighbors have had issues with cars being stolen.  Here at my work, we’ve had cars stolen out of the parking lot the last few weeks because of this issue, so it’s practical and real,” said Crossley.

      Mayhew has become adept at explaining the issue, having presented it to his colleagues several times over the years.  It begins with the two very different ways catalytic converters are valued:  their value when stolen and scrapped, and the value to replace them.

      “While most catalytic converter thefts prior to changing this law would have fallen in the category of petty theft – most of them would have been misdemeanors because the actual salvage value of the item is less than $1,000 – the true cost of that stolen catalytic converter is a lot more than that because the person who has to replace that catalytic converter is looking at, at least, a $2,000 bill, so we have to take that into account whenever we consider the ultimate consequences of the act.”

      “To me it’s also a working person’s issue,” Crossley said.  “When somebody has to go out and replace their catalytic converter and those can cost anywhere from $1,000 to $5,000 to replace, that’s a big chunk of change for a working person to have to go put down just to get a small part for their car replaced.”

      Converters are an easy and profitable target because an experienced thief can steal one in as little as 30 seconds, and because they contain rare and valuable metals they can be sold to a salvager for anywhere from $50 to $900. 

      Even in the case of a new vehicle with full coverage insurance, the deductible cost is usually more than the cost of replacing the converter.  Mayhew says most people who are victims of such thefts have liability coverage only.

Representative Aaron Crossley (Photo: Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

      “I have two elderly ladies in my district who had catalytic converters stolen.  They had older model vehicles and the catalytic converter was stolen from their car.  Well, now they’re out of a vehicle because they can’t afford the $2,000 it’s going to take to put the catalytic converter back on their car and their car’s not worth $2,000.  Those are the people who are getting hurt by this.  This is not a victimless crime.  This is not a, ‘Oh, the insurance is going to pick up the cost,’ kind of thing because they don’t.”

      Democrats have been very vocal in recent years in opposing legislation that would increase sentencing in other areas of law.  Crossley says in this case, however, stiffened penalties make sense. 

      “We do a disservice when we pass laws that aren’t enforceable and don’t have some teeth … so I think finding that balance to make sure that we’re not being overly harsh to Missourians but also understanding that by not having some repercussions that we’re also harming people,” said Crossley. 

       Mayhew said there would be an element of compassion in increasing these penalties.  It could get more people into the drug treatment programs of the state’s courts, which have historically been very effective.

      “Most catalytic converters are stolen because the person who’s stealing it has a drug problem.  Well until we make it a felony then we can’t get that person to drug court.  On a misdemeanor, they don’t go to drug court, but on a felony, then our local prosecutors can, in those cases where it was a person who was simply trying to feed this habit that they’ve acquired, if we can get them to drug court maybe we can kill two birds with one stone,” explains Mayhew.  “We can help this person, turn them into a productive citizen, but also reduce the amount of crime that’s happening in our county.”

      Mayhew said the proposed changes in reporting requirements for salvagers would also increase accountability for those buyers. 

      “That accountability takes the form of once a month those who purchase catalytic converters will have to turn in a report to the Department of Revenue, the information, a lot of which they already are required to accumulate whenever they purchase a catalytic converter.” 

      That includes getting a photocopy of the seller’s driver’s license and recording the license plate number of the vehicle that brought in the converter – both of which are already required – and the proposed new requirements of getting the make, model, and serial number of the vehicle off of which the converter came; and providing a signed affidavit saying the converter wasn’t stolen.  These new requirements would only apply to individuals, rather than established businesses. 

      Crossley supports the additional reporting requirements, and it is this area with which his legislation filed in the 2023 session dealt.

      “Adding just a few more requirements to make sure that they’re receiving and buying converters that were actually lawfully obtained is the point,” Crossley said.

      Mayhew said such reporting would also let Missouri at last know how many catalytic converters are being salvaged, and “keep honest people honest.

      “Right now we are in a ‘hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil’ kind of situation.  As long as I don’t ask you if it’s stolen then I’m not going to be accountable for it, if it is.”

      Mayhew notes that in the last two years, legislation dealing with this issue has passed out of the House 153-1 and 143-2, and in at least one of those cases, he said a “no” vote came from someone who thought he was voting on a different amendment.  He said the legislation isn’t just a caucus priority, it’s a legislative priority.

      He and Crossley hope that 2024 proves to be the year that the measure makes it into statute.

      “It’s a growing issue that we have to tackle because nobody is served by not doing anything,” said Crossley.

      The new legislative session begins January 3.