Arlington has seen an explosion in catalytic converter thefts over the past two years, according to updated stats from county police.
Between Jan. 1 and Oct. 3 of this year, 172 such thefts were reported to the Arlington County Police Department, according to a department spokesperson. That’s up more than 2,350% compared to the 7 catalytic converter thefts reported during the same time period in 2020.
Just days after the last reported series of airbag thefts in Arlington, police are investigating another.
Arlington County police say a thief or thieves smashed windows on and stole airbags from three Honda vehicles on the 900 block of S. Rolfe Street, near Towers Park.
Thieves recently stole nearly a dozen catalytic converters early Wednesday in a crime spree that spanned numerous North Arlington neighborhoods, police say.
Word of the thefts follows Wednesday’s arrest of three people from Chicago who were allegedly seen tampering with cars near Columbia Pike and found with catalytic converters and power tools.
A trio of catalytic converter theft suspects, all from Chicago, were arrested early this morning.
Arlington police say they were able to track down all three suspects after they tried to speed off in a car, which they then crashed in the Penrose neighborhood. They were later arrested in the northern portion of the neighborhood, near Sequoia Plaza and Butler Holmes Park.
A man absconded with thousands of dollars yesterday after swiping a bag of cash from an employee who was filling an ATM in Pentagon City.
The incident reportedly happened around 1:45 p.m. Wednesday at the Harris Teeter store at 900 Army Navy Drive, in the Pentagon Row shopping center.
Arlington County police are investigating another series of airbag thefts.
The latest series was reported on the 1900 block of S. Eads Street in Crystal City just before 5:30 a.m. Thursday. A tipster tells us that thieves appeared to target Honda Civics parked at the Crystal House apartment complex.
A man is facing numerous charges for allegedly going on a shopping spree immediately after stealing someone’s wallet in Virginia Square.
The incident started Thursday morning at a building along the 3800 block of Fairfax Drive, a block or two down the road from the Metro station.
Thieves did not take the Independence Day holiday off, keeping Arlington police busy this past weekend.
It was a long weekend of vehicular mayhem across the county. In one of the earlier incidents, nearly three dozen vehicles — all Hondas and Acuras — had their airbags stolen overnight Saturday into Sunday in various neighborhoods, including the Rosslyn and Pentagon City areas.
(Updated at 1:45 p.m.) Arlington is in the midst of a rash of catalytic converter thefts.
At least a half dozen vehicles in the Arlington Forest and Barcroft neighborhoods have have their catalytic converters stolen in recent days, a reader tells ARLnow. That follows reports of multiple converter thefts in various parts of the county in March and April.
Thieves are entering homes in North Arlington and driving off with luxury cars using keys pilfered from inside.
At least two overnight incidents involving three stolen vehicles — a BMW and two Audis — were reported in the Old Glebe and Rock Spring neighborhoods in the latest Arlington County Police Department crime report.
Man Accidentally Shoots Self in Crystal City — “300 block of 23rd Street S. At approximately 7:45 p.m. on June 15, police were dispatched to the report of a discharge of a firearm. Upon arrival, it was determined that as the male subject was cleaning his firearm, it discharged resulting in a gunshot wound to his hand… No other injuries or property damage have been reported.” [ACPD]
Home Hunters Keep Housing Hot — “The regional and national real-estate markets may be cooling, but Arlington remains atop the pack in the Washington area when it comes to maintaining home-buyer interest. The county was the highest-scoring among 10 jurisdictions in the latest monthly Bright MLS T3 Home Demand Index.” [Sun Gazette]
