Moses Lake man arrested, charged with converter theft

MOSES LAKE — A Moses Lake man was arrested for attempting to steal a catalytic converter from a car parked at a Moses Lake car dealership Monday night. It was the third arrest for catalytic converter theft in less than a week.

Trevor Schaffer, 29, was arrested at about 9 p.m. at the dealership on South Frontage Road, according to a post from the Moses Lake Police Department. He was booked into the Grant County Jail on suspicion of second-degree theft and second-degree malicious mischief.

Police officers saw Schaffer under a pickup truck parked at the dealership, the post said.

“Officers approached and observed Schaffer attempting to cut the catalytic converter off the vehicle,” the post said.

The department has started emphasis patrols focusing on catalytic converter theft, according to information released by MLPD last week.

“This is the third cat thief our officers have caught in the last week, and the emphasis patrols will continue as necessary,” the post said. “As with most property crimes, cat thefts are primarily driven by the drug trade and drug addiction, and the market for stolen cats.”

Officers arrested Kurtis Larson-Tungate, 39, Jan. 17 and Raisa Sorlien, 33, and Brian Smith, 32, on Jan. 18 in connection with catalytic converter thefts.