Not even an alert household pet could scare off a thief early Saturday morning in Blue Earth.
During the “Juba Jabber” program Tuesday morning on KBEW, Tom Juba told show host Ron Revere that his daughter and son-in-law’s dog began “barking like crazy” around 3:00 a.m.
“He went out to see why. There was a guy parked in the driveway and he was underneath their Prius,” says Juba. “My son-in-law reported his license plate number to police.”
Although he was able to frighten away the man, Juba says the thief was able to steal the vehicle’s catalytic converter.
There’s been an increase in the scrap value of converters, which has resulted in a spike of thefts locally and across the country.
Blue Earth police are continuing their investigation and it’s unclear whether the incident may be related to thefts in Brown and Nicollet counties.
In March, five converters were stolen in March; one in rural Nicollet County and another in New Ulm.
St. Peter police are also dealing with a rash number of thefts, 18 in late April and early May.
Winnebago Police Chief Eric Olson says so far his department has not received any reports of missing converters.