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Stealing Catalytic Converters With Lamborghini Urus: Thieves Must Somehow Pay the Car Loan

California catalytic converter thieves are driving around in an expensive car. And not after they manage to sell the precious car parts but during the theft itself.
Stealing catalytic converters with Lamborghini 8 photos
Photo: YouTube - KTLA 5, Lamborghnini.com
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Video footage obtained by police in Torrance, Los Angeles, appears to show four people getting out of a Lamborghini Urus performance SUV. The car even has a color that stands out. It's painted yellow and has black wheels. The thieves used this car to steal a catalytic converter from a van at 4 a.m. on Wednesday morning.

In a video shot by a surveillance camera mounted in the area, thieves can be seen pulling up next to the white van. In just two minutes, they manage to jack up the car, cut the catalytic converter, and drive away. The thieves are still on the loose, and the Torrance Police Department is now asking anyone with information to contact them.

As for the Lamborghini they were driving, the price of the base model starts at $230,000 but can easily go as high as $300,000, depending on the options the customer chooses.

The reference to the car loan in the title is, of course, a joke. The car might also be stolen. Or it might be a rental car. Thieves rent fast, expensive cars all the time, knowing they'll be able to escape the police more easily. If the thieves were put on the run by the police or even the owner of the van, it would be very hard to catch up with that Lamborghini.

Lamborghini Urus is equipped with a 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 aluminum petrol engine. It delivers 666 ps (657 hp / 490 kW) and 850 Nm (627 lb-ft) of torque. Urus accelerates from 0-100 kmh (0-62 mph) in 3.6 seconds, from 0-200 kmh (0-124 mph) in 12.8 seconds, and reaches a top speed of 305 kmh (190 mph). Braking is no less impressive.

The number of catalytic converter thefts skyrocketed at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and it exploded recently. If in 2018 a number of 1,298 thefts were reported in the U.S., this number increased to 3,389 in 2019 and jumped to 14,433 in 2020. Last year, the number of such thefts reached about 52,206.

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About the author: Marius Visan
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Marius grew up in a family of truck drivers, so the love for cars and anything with an engine came naturally. After getting his journalism degree and an M.D. in Multimedia and Audio/Video Production he went right into covering the automotive industry for a news agency and a print magazine.
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