Man suspected in more thefts
BUTLER TWP — The cases keep mounting against a suspected serial catalytic converter thief.
Butler Township police on Wednesday charged Taylor M. Baldt, 27, of Mars with stealing the auto part from four vehicles last month.
Baldt is accused of cutting off the catalytic converters of two pickup trucks and a sport utility vehicle parked at a pair of businesses in the Lyn-Mar Plaza between April 1 and 7, police said.
He also allegedly took a converter from an SUV parked at the Avada Building on North Main Street on April 7.
Catalytic converters are anti-pollution devices. Thieves target the part, which is found in front of the muffler, because it contains valuable metals, such as platinum.
Converters are often stolen with a portable power saw and sold for scrap for $50 to $75 apiece. Repair bills, however, can run hundreds of dollars for victims, police said.
Authorities believe Baldt was scrapping the converters for money to pay for his heroin addiction, according to court documents.
The defendant has been in the Allegheny County Jail since April 7 when Ross Township police arrested him moments after he allegedly stole two catalytic converters from the park and ride lot on Perrysville Avenue
Earlier that day, police in nearby Ohio Township had alerted neighboring departments that they believed a white Ford pickup truck was involved in several catalytic converter thefts.
Baldt was driving a white pickup when Ross police stopped him. He subsequently confessed to those thefts as well as others in Allegheny County’s North Hills and in Butler County, investigators said.
In all, he’s charged with five converter thefts each in Ross and McCandless townships, three in Pine Township and two in Shaler Township.
In Butler County, Penn Township police earlier this month charged him with stealing a catalytic converter from a van March 30 at the park and ride lot on Route 8.
A preliminary hearing in that case is set for May 27 at the office of District Judge Sue Haggerty in Saxonburg.
Butler Township police charged Baldt with four misdemeanor counts each of theft and receiving stolen property His preliminary hearing in those cases has not been set.
