PORT NECHES, Texas — Catalytic converter thieves have hit again.
Officers said catalytic converters were stolen Thursday afternoon off students' trucks at Nederland High School.
We've heard of these types of crimes happening at car dealerships and residential areas but at a high school? Some parents are questioning the security on campus.
“This is the first time we've had it in broad daylight in a parking lot,” Nederland Police Chief Gary Porter said.
Two Nederland high schoolers were getting off from a long day at school only to find out their catalytic converters were stolen from under their Toyota Tacomas.
“It rares its head about once every two months. The demand for them is pretty high,” Porter said.
Online, there were concerns about the school's security and we looked into it.
“We do have security. We do have security cameras. We have security detail that works for the school we also have school resource officers,” Dr. Stuart Kieschnisc.
The school said the security footage from the parking lot was working. According to Porter, it was too grainy to depict a suspect
“…Buildings around the neighborhood and we got some footage out of one of them over at the water district over at the fire department,” Porter said.
It just takes a few minutes for a thief to saw the catalytic converter out of your car. A lot of security cameras are shooting a whole scene not changing the focus so a crime happening from underneath a car can be difficult to see
“In response to this burglarizing, we put on extra details with the police to put extra patrol around our facilities,” Kieschnisc said.
Police are still finding the number of suspects involved and if the thieves were students.
If your car is making loud noises or driving roughly, your catalytic converter may not be there.
CRIME STOPPERS | Submit a tip @ 833Tips.com
If you have information about a crime you could earn a cash reward of up to $1000 by providing an ANONYMOUS tip to Crime Stoppers of Southeast Texas.
Call 833-TIPS (8477) or download the P3Tips App on your mobile device to submit your tip anonymously.
This is a developing story. We will update with more if and when we receive more confirmed information.
CRIME STOPPERS APP | Download the P3 Tips App
GET NEWS & WEATHER ALERTS | Download the 12News App to your mobile device