SEATTLE — Bud Sparrs has been around cars for most of his life. He owns Buds Auto & Truck Recycling. He said he gets calls weekly about catalytic converters,
"They call me and say it's not stolen, 'it's not off of my car, it's off of my girlfriend's car.' I don't buy it," he said.
Years ago, Sparrs made the decision not to buy catalytic converters. Catalytic converter thefts have increased dramatically in the past few years, especially in Washington state.
"I don't want to help fund that. I don't want to help fund stolen goods," said Sparrs.
A law cracking down on catalytic converter thefts will go into effect on July 1. The law was passed in the Legislature unanimously and was signed into law by Gov. Jay Inslee in late March. The law requires businesses to show a record of their transactions and pay for catalytic converters through a traceable source, like checks, and not cash.
"It's not going to affect the wrecking yard, not an honest wrecking yard. It isn't going to affect us. It might prevent you from getting yours cut if they don't have a place to sell it," said Sparrs.
Sparrs says he doesn't see his refusal to buy catalytic converters as lost revenue. He decided to help the problem by sponsoring and donating to Praisealujah Ministries. He donates some of the cars he gets that are repairable.
Kelly Crow is the Pastor at Praisealuja and runs a treatment center along with food ministries. He said he's helped rehabilitate people who have stolen catalytic converters and cars.
"Yeah I'm around it all the time and even our catalytic converters have been stolen out of all of our trucks," said Crow.
So far in 2022, there have been more than 1,500 thefts in Washington according to a report from BeenVerified.