Two Aurora men charged with stealing more than 35 catalytic converters from vehicles around the Chicago area

Two Aurora men have been charged with stealing catalytic converters from more than 35 privately-owned vehicles across northern Illinois, officials said Wednesday.

Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s office charged Pedro Villegas-Mendoza, 22, and Octavio Goytia, 28, with two counts of theft greater than $10,000 and one count of aggravated possession of a stolen motor vehicle.

Villegas-Mendoza was also charged with 38 counts of possession of a stolen motor vehicle and 38 counts of burglary, according to a press release from Raoul’s office. Goytia was also charged with 36 counts of possession of a stolen motor vehicle and 36 counts of burglary.

Bond for both Villegas-Mendoza and Goytia was set at $350,000, according to the release. Their next court date is Aug. 14.

“While a vehicle can still operate without a catalytic converter, removing it will release toxic gases and pollutants into the air,” Raoul said in the release. “These charges are the result of close collaboration by my office with multiple state’s attorneys and law enforcement agencies to investigate thefts in eight Chicagoland counties.”

In documents filed with the DuPage County Circuit Court, Raoul alleges that from August 2021 through March 2022, Villegas-Mendoza and Goytia worked together to steal catalytic converters from vehicles in Cook, DuPage, Kane, Will, DeKalb, Lake, McHenry and Winnebago counties.

Villegas-Mendoza and Goytia are accused of traveling across the eight counties and in broad daylight removing the catalytic converters by jacking up vehicles and using a saw to remove the converter, according to the release.

A catalytic converter is a part of a vehicle’s exhaust system that filters fumes and reduces harmful car emissions, officials said. It uses elements of platinum, palladium and rhodium metals, which can be sold for profit.

Raoul’s office filed the charges after a nearly two-year investigation in collaboration with several states attorneys and law enforcement agencies, the release stated. A multi-county investigation was led by detectives from the Carol Stream and Wood Dale police departments in DuPage County after local residents reported catalytic converter thefts.

The Aurora and Schaumburg police departments and the DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office also assisted with the investigation, according to the release.