Crowley Salvage Yard Hit Twice in Catalytic Converter Theft Case

CROWLEY, La. — A Church Point man is facing multiple felony charges after Acadia Parish deputies say he stole six catalytic converters from a salvage yard just outside Crowley city limits, cashing them in with a local parts buyer who ultimately helped deputies track him down.

According to the Acadia Parish Sheriff’s Office, Travis Christopher Cormier, 37, now faces two counts of unauthorized entry of a place of business and six counts of theft of catalytic converters.

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Sheriff KP Gibson said the thefts happened at SMS, a salvage yard in the 1400 block of West Second Street. Deputies say Cormier entered the property twice: once about two weeks before the theft was reported, then again on Sept. 27, the date the sheriff’s office says the case was reported to them.

“The converters are worth about $500 each, roughly $3,000 combined,” Gibson said.

How a Used-Parts Buyer Helped Crack the Case

The break in the case came from an unexpected place: the man Cormier allegedly sold the stolen parts to.

Deputies traced the six converters to a licensed used-parts buyer who told investigators he’d purchased all six from Cormier. Used-parts buyers are required to identify anyone who sells them items, Gibson said, and that requirement proved central to closing this case.

Justin Sullivan, Getty Images

The buyer’s shop had surveillance footage. He also recognized Cormier from previous transactions, according to the sheriff’s office. Required recordkeeping plus a camera gave deputies what they needed to make an arrest.

All six stolen converters have since been recovered and returned to their owner.

What Acadia Parish Residents and Business Owners Need to Know

Gibson said the investigation currently points to Cormier acting alone, though deputies haven’t closed the door on additional suspects. “At this point in time, he’s the only suspect we have involved in this, but we are not ruling out other suspects,” Gibson said.

For salvage yards, auto shops and anyone storing vehicles outdoors in Acadia Parish, the case is a reminder of two things. Catalytic converters remain a frequent target for thieves. And recoveries like this one usually hinge on what business owners control directly: working security cameras and buyers who actually follow the ID-verification rules.

Cormier is being held in the Vermilion Parish Jail. Bond had not been set as of the sheriff’s office’s release. The release also noted Cormier has previous arrests for narcotics and theft.

Why Catalytic Converter Theft Is Climbing Again in Louisiana

Cormier’s arrest lands in the middle of a broader resurgence. Catalytic converters contain small amounts of platinum, palladium and rhodium. Those are precious metals, and they can fetch hundreds of dollars per converter on the resale market. That’s exactly why a thief can cut one out from under a parked vehicle in minutes, or, as in this case, target unattended inventory sitting at a salvage yard.

The economics behind that have gotten sharply worse this year. Rhodium prices have climbed to roughly $10,400 an ounce as of February 2026, up 126% from its 2024 low. Platinum and palladium are up 120% and 70% over the same stretch. That’s the same kind of price spike that drove national catalytic converter theft claims from about 3,300 in 2019 to more than 52,000 in 2021, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau. Insurers are watching for the same pattern to repeat now that metal prices are climbing again.

Acadiana has already lived through one wave of this. Lafayette police logged roughly 300 reported catalytic converter thefts in a single stretch during the last surge. The Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office tied about 66 cases to 123 stolen converters in 2021 alone.

The problem hasn’t stayed confined to salvage yards and commercial lots, either. In March 2026, Baton Rouge police arrested a Houston man wanted by Livingston Parish deputies after he was found with several stolen converters following thefts from vehicles parked along residential streets near Denham Springs — a reminder that out-of-state theft crews are actively working Louisiana neighborhoods, not just salvage yards and shops.

For a vehicle owner facing a theft, the hit isn’t small. Replacement ran close to $2,900 on average as of the most recent available data, up more than 50% from 2019. And that’s before a deductible, for anyone without comprehensive coverage.

For Acadiana-area vehicle owners wondering what this means for them, a few low-cost steps make a real difference:

• Park smart. A garage, a fenced lot or a well-lit area near a camera is harder to work in unnoticed than an open lot — and trucks and SUVs sitting higher off the ground are easier targets simply because the converter is easier to reach.
• Mark it. Etching your VIN onto the converter won’t stop a cut, but it helps law enforcement identify and return a recovered part — exactly what happened in this case.
• Ask about a shield. A bolt-on converter shield or cage adds time and noise to a theft attempt, which is often enough to send a thief looking for an easier target elsewhere.
• Report it fast. If your converter is stolen, loud exhaust noise on startup is usually the first sign — report it to local law enforcement and your insurer right away.

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