CHESAPEAKE, Va. — The Chesapeake Police Department is looking for two people involved in a catalytic converter theft.
Danette Crawford of Joy Ministries says vehicles belonging to her non-profit were recently vandalized.
Members of her organization discovered the crime that same day as they were about to drive their 15-passenger van to an outreach event.
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"The van made this crazy noise and we knew someone stole the catalytic converter," said Crawford.
After reviewing surveillance video, Crawford discovered the theft on one of her 16 cameras stationed on her property. On Feb. 9, a video of a white Chevrolet pickup truck trespassing on her property was captured.
Crawford says the person tried to hide their truck behind bushes and then headed toward her shuttle bus and van with tools. She adds that both the vehicles were damaged from this event.
"They (the suspects) tried to steal the catalytic converter from the shuttle bus but were unable to," said Crawford.
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Currently, the Chesapeake Police Department is reviewing the surveillance video to try and track down the two people involved, one driver of the truck and one person who vandalized the cars. Investigators say the truck has distinguishing features, which is why News 3 couldn't air the video at this time.
Crawford says her non-profit works with hundreds of children from four of the seven cities in Hampton Road, however, the vandalism has slammed the brakes on their mission. Crawford believed the theft was motivated by something other than money
"It breaks my heart because we help inner-city children and we do education and we do mentoring programs, so all of those have had to halt at this time that we are without the vehicles," said Crawford.
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Cavalier Ford is currently working on the van with the stolen catalytic converter. They said estimated repairs could take several hours to complete and thousands of dollars to fix.
Crawford says she's willing to look past this incident if the person responsible comes forward.
"I'd like to see the people turn themselves in," said Crawford. "Honestly if they turn themselves in and they're honest about it, I would drop charges."
Anyone with any information should contact the Chesapeake Police Department.
