Dayton man indicted caught with a dozen catalytic converters, tools, prosecutors say

Credit: Montgomery County Jail

Credit: Montgomery County Jail

Englewood police were dispatched Aug. 10 to Boone Restoration on Harco Drive on a report of a catalytic converter stolen from a box truck. Surveillance cameras recorded a man stealing the part around 3 a.m. Shokhzodayev was identified as the suspect from the vehicle he was driving, according to a release from the Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office.

Shokhzodayev was found Aug. 13 in Harrison Twp. When his car was impounded and searched, detectives found three power saws, 12 catalytic converters and other tools used for stealing converters, the release stated.

Following Shokhzodayev’s arrest, White Allen Chevrolet contacted Englewood police regarding the theft of two catalytic converters from a box truck on their lot. Officers were able to match the damaged truck to two of the converters found in the defendant’s vehicle, according to the prosecutor’s office.

“Catalytic converter theft is a very real problem everywhere,” Prosecutor Mat Heck Jr. said. “Scrap metal recyclers pay $100 or so for a scrap converter, but the cost to the victim to replace a converter can easily exceed $2,000. State legislators need to pass legislation making it harder to sell catalytic converters to metal recyclers.”