Sticky Fingers in the Finger Lakes? Help Police Find This Man

Authorities are asking for help from the public identifying and locating a suspect who may have been stealing automotive equipment off of vehicles in the Finger Lakes.

The New York State Police say that the person pictured, believed to be a man, allegedly stole two catalytic converters off of a pickup trucked belonging the Calvary Cemetery on Five Mile Drive in the Town of Ithaca.  The incident happened on Thursday, January 13, 2022 at approximately 7:30am.  The truck was parked at the time.

The suspect is being described as a white man with short brown hair. At the time he was wearing glasses, had facial hair, and was wearing black clothing.  He was, according to police, carrying a portable saw and was seen in a maroon or dak red Chevrolet HHR.

Anyone who has information that may be helpful to the investigation, or who has knowledge of the individual pictured, is asked to call police.  The New York State Police may be reached at: (607) 347.4463.  The case reference number is: 10645088.

According to the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) "...there were 108 catalytic converter thefts per month on average in 2018, 282 average monthly thefts in 2019, and 1,203 average thefts per month in 2020."  The pandemic is blamed for the surge in thefts during 2020.

[EDITOR'S NOTE:   This post is for informational purposes and is based largely on information received from the New York State Police.  Any suspects, or arrested persons, are innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.  At the time of this posting no additional information is available.]