When “General Hospital” actor Johnny Wactor was shot and killed while interrupting a car-part theft Saturday in Los Angeles, he became the highest-profile victim of a crime that has plagued the U.S. for four years. While thefts of catalytic converters are on the wane, the combination of the car Wactor drove and the state the shooting took place in were unfortunate factors surrounding the crime that led to his death, NBC News reports. More than half of the catalytic converter thefts in the U.S. last year were reported in California, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau. Almost 15,000 converters were stolen across the state last year, nearly eight times as many as in second-place Texas. Wactor’s car, a Toyota Prius, was one of the five most-targeted vehicles for catalytic converter theft, according to Carfax.
Thefts of catalytic converters, an anti-pollution part, have skyrocketed since 2019 because of the value of the precious metals inside them. Although catalytic converter thefts nationally are down from 2022’s peak, the number reported stolen last year still exceeds 2020’s count. State, local and federal forces have worked to make it more difficult to profit off the thefts. Congress has been looking to do something about the issue since at least 2022, and the Justice Department busted a national catalytic converter theft ring that year.