MURRAY, Utah — A catalytic converter theft in the Fashion Place Mall parking lot in Murray was caught on camera.

Matthew Campbell says he was leaving work last Friday night when he got into his car and noticed something was wrong.

“I turned my car on, it sounded like I was starting like a lawn mower,” Campbell said.

Campbell says after restarting his car with the same result, he called his dad to see if he could find out what the problem was.

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His dad told him he thought someone might have taken his catalytic converter.

“I was just upset enough, kind of like I wanted to come out when maybe they do so I could scare them off,” Campbell said.

Fortunately for Campbell, he was parked right next to his colleague, Robb Lapp.

Lapp says he saw a message the next day in Campbell’s group chat, talking about the theft.

“He said he was parked next to a Tesla and he was low and that was a weird coincidence,” Lapp said.

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He says his Tesla lets him set up a feature to record whenever someone approaches the car.

It was Lapp’s car, equipped with seven cameras in all, two on each side, that captured the entire incident as it happened.

“It caught him walking to the car and looking at everything, you could see he kind of had a drill up his sleeve,” Lapp said.

Catalytic converter thefts have increased in Utah in recent years.

According to data from the Utah Attorney General’s office, the state saw a 585% increase from 2018 through the end of last year.

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“People go under the car, they cut it, it takes them maybe seven minutes, then they’re gone and they can make several hundred dollars pretty quickly,” said Richard Piatt, director of communications for the attorney general’s office. from Utah.

For Campbell, that leaves him with a hefty price tag.

“To fix and everything with the part they have, it would be $3,000,” Campbell said. Without his car at the moment, Campbell hopes these videos will help catch the person responsible.

“If they catch him, that would be great,” Campbell said.

Campbell filed a report with the Murray City Police Department on Saturday. After discovering that Lapp had videos of the incident in progress, he says he sent them to the police the next day.

“To fix and everything with the part they have, it would be $3,000,” Campbell said.

Without his car at the moment, Campbell hopes these videos will help catch the person responsible.

“If they catch him, that would be great,” Campbell said.

Campbell says he filed a report with the Murray City Police Department on Saturday. After discovering that Lapp had videos of the incident in progress, he says he sent them to the police the next day.