Press release from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office:
On Oct. 9, 2022, at about 3:16 p.m., Humboldt County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to a residence on the 4500 block of Chaffin Road in McKinleyville for the report of a stabbing.
Deputies arrived at the residence and located a 51-year-old male victim with serious injuries and an uninjured adult female. The victim was transported to a local hospital and is expected to recover. Upon further investigation, deputies learned that the suspect, 54-year-old David Matthew Bellugue, recently moved in and had been living at victim’s residence. At the time of the incident, the victim and the female were reportedly speaking in a private room when Bellugue entered the room and physically assaulted the victim with a knife. Bellugue then fled the residence.
Sheriff deputies, with the assistance of the California Highway Patrol, searched the surrounding community for Bellugue. CHP Officers located and detained Bellugue in the area of Clam Beach and Dows Prairie Roads.
Bellugue was booked into the Humboldt County Correctional Facility on charges of attempted murder (PC 664/187(a)).
Anyone with information about this case or related criminal activity is encouraged to call the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office at (707) 445-7251 or the Sheriff’s Office Crime Tip line at (707) 268-2539.
Mechanic Alex Esparza works on a catalytic converter of a vehicle at Van Ness Auto Repair in Fresno on Sept. 13, 2022. Photo by Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local
###
A beam of light glints beneath Isaac Agyeman’s 2009 Prius, parked outside his Temecula home early one August morning. One person is under the hatchback, another by its side and a third is stationed nearby. After a few mechanical roars and a quick scoot out from under the car, all three hurry away.
It was the second time Agyeman’s catalytic converter — which scrubs a car’s emissions to make them less toxic and contains precious metals — had been stolen. This time, he caught the whole thing on camera.
“I was upset. I was really frustrated,” he said. He filed a police report, sent them the footage and called his insurance company. On top of everything, it was his birthday.
Agyeman paid $500 for the repair and his insurance covered the rest. He forked over another $150 to get a protective gate installed over his converter, hoping to deter future would-be thieves, and between $6,000 to $8,000 on an upgraded home security system, he estimates. As of September, he still hadn’t heard anything from the police, he said.
Catalytic converter theft has spiked across the country in recent years, from 1,298 reported thefts in 2018 to 52,206 in 2021, according to claims data from the National Insurance Crime Bureau. The bureau sampled member company claims data to identify catalytic converter theft trends, and a spokesperson wrote in a statement that the numbers don’t represent all thefts.
California hasn’t been immune.
Nationally, 37% of catalytic converter theft claims tracked by the bureau in 2021 were in the Golden State — a disproportionate share, even accounting for California’s large population.
About 1,600 are stolen per month in California, per a 2021 presentation from the state’s Bureau of Automotive Repair. Hondas and Toyotas, particularly older Priuses, are most often targeted, according to claims data provided by the AAA Automobile Club of Southern California. Hybrids have two converters and the parts tend to get less wear, making them more valuable, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau. Thieves sell the converters, which can be removed in minutes with an electric saw, for $50 to $250, the bureau wrote in a statement.
In April, staff at Yolo Food Bank in Woodland realized a catalytic converter had been stolen from a Prius they use to make small deliveries. Staff used their own cars to drop off food while the Prius was out of commission, said Maria Segoviano, director of marketing communications at the food bank.
The organization paid about $400 for a shield to protect the converter and began parking the car inside its warehouse. And, because this wasn’t the first time they’d had someone break through a wire fence to get to their parking lot, they decided to invest in an heavy-duty, 8-foot fence.
It set them back $69,200 — which translates to about 81,000 pounds of fruit and vegetables, Segoviano said.
“Catalytic converters obviously have been around forever, and they’ve been getting stolen forever, but never this bad,” said Jared Cabrera, a service writer at Art’s Automotive in Berkeley.
Before the pandemic, it was almost unheard of, he said. Now he estimates he sees four or five cars a week that have had their converters stolen.
The value of the precious metals in converters, particularly rhodium, has skyrocketed since late 2019, potentially driving the surge in theft. Rhodium is currently valued around $14,000 per troy ounce, about eight times the current price of gold.
“It’s so incredibly difficult to investigate these cases, to charge them, and to hold anybody accountable,” said Tamar Tokat, a Los Angeles County deputy district attorney.
It’s rare that people are caught by police while they’re taking the converter, since it happens so quickly. And if law enforcement finds someone with hundreds of converters, it might be suspicious but, said Tokat, because converters are unmarked, they can’t be traced back to a particular car.
“How can we disprove a claim that it came from a junkyard, or disprove a claim that they [were] given it by some other auto mechanic?” said Greg Totten, CEO of the California District Attorneys Association. It’s very difficult under those circumstances to prove to a jury of 12 — beyond a reasonable doubt — that it was stolen, he said.
States take action
Lawmakers across the country have scrambled to curb the catalytic converter crime spree.
Amanda Essex of the National Conference of State Legislatures said remedies have mainly fallen into three categories:
Regulating the sale of converters (for example, requiring more documentation).
Increasing or creating new criminal penalties.
Labeling the converters in some way so they can be traced back to owners.
States have passed at least 37 laws, according to Essex. But the laws are so recent there’s little evidence yet which, if any, are effective.
California lawmakers also produced their own pile of 11 bills this most recent session. Many died early, but four wound their way through several layers of committees and votes. They are:
AB-1653, which adds theft of vehicle parts to the list of crimes the California Highway Patrol’s Regional Property Crimes Task Force should prioritize.
SB 1087, which limits legal sellers of catalytic converters to people who can prove it came from their own vehicle, and to businesses including licensed auto dismantlers and repair dealers. Fines for breaking the law start at $1,000, and escalate for repeat violations.
AB 1740, which requires people or businesses who buy catalytic converters to document the purchase by recording the year, make, model, and VIN number of the car that the converter came from.
SB 986, which would require car dealers to etch a car’s unique VIN number onto its catalytic converter if the converter is “readily accessible.” It would also require a traceable method of payment for converters.
The first three bills were signed into law while the fourth failed to pass a late August vote in the Assembly. That bill was sponsored by the Los Angeles district attorney’s office and was aimed at making it easier for law enforcement to investigate and prosecute catalytic converter theft.
Car dealers, who would have been tasked with etching numbers onto converters, opposed the bill. They didn’t think it would deter theft, said Brian Maas, president of the California New Car Dealers Association, and they thought it could be expensive. For cars where the catalytic converter is easy to get to, it wouldn’t take much time, he said. But for others — say, a car that has a converter attached to its engine block — the etching could cost hundreds or thousands of dollars, Maas said.
Legislators amended the bill so that it didn’t require VIN numbers if the converter wasn’t “readily accessible” and marking it “would reasonably require the significant removal or disassembly of parts of the vehicle.” But Maas said that standard wasn’t sufficiently defined, and was worried the ambiguity would lead to lawsuits against dealerships. “I can’t tell you today what ‘significant disassembly’ means. I don’t know which car that applies to,” Maas said.
“We’re concerned that our dealers are going to be held responsible for not marking a catalytic converter that ultimately might have been stolen,” he said.
The bill’s author, democratic state Senator Tom Umberg from Garden Grove, said he was “honestly shocked,” in a statement after the bill’s failure.
“I’m not surprised that the auto dealers and car manufacturers would be reluctant to take on this task to support their customers — we engaged in multiple conversations with them in the last seven months. Frankly, I’m more surprised that the majority of the California State Assembly chose the concerns of the car dealers over the cries of help from their constituents.”
Tokat, with the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office, thinks the two laws regulating the sale of converters will be less effective without the VIN etching bill. “We’ve already had record-keeping laws on the books for many years now and they’ve really been ineffective,” she said.
Still, others see the new laws as a step in the right direction. They won’t completely “wipe out” the issue, said Amanda Gualderama, a legislative advocate with AAA. But the bill limiting who can legally sell converters, SB 1087, closes loopholes in existing laws, she said.
Will Congress step in?
Congress could also mandate that VIN numbers be etched onto converters. Under federal law, cars are already required to label several other parts, including the engine. A bill in congress would add catalytic converters to the list and create a grant program to help pay for marking existing vehicles.
“I kind of think it’s appalling that the manufacturers don’t just voluntarily put the VINs on the catalytic converters because they know they’re a huge target,” said Rosemary Shahan, president of Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety, a consumer advocacy non-profit.
CalMatters reached out to Ford, Toyota, and Honda. Ford didn’t respond to CalMatters’ questions. Toyota also didn’t answer CalMatters’ questions, but a spokesperson said in a statement, “Catalytic converter theft is an industry wide challenge … the most effective approach requires close collaboration between the broader automotive industry and local and state authorities to devise legislative solutions aimed at eliminating the market for these stolen parts.”
Honda, which didn’t answer questions, directed CalMatters to the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, an advocacy group for car manufacturers.
The Alliance did not make anyone available for an interview but said, via a statement, “Catalytic converter theft is a major problem in California and across the country… We are working closely with policymakers and law enforcement authorities on how legislation or other efforts, including increasing public awareness and enhanced penalties for unlawful possession, can help deter this kind of criminal activity.”
What’s a car owner to do?
There are steps motorists can take to reduce the odds their converter gets stolen, according to the Bureau of Automotive Repair. Parking on a well-lit street — or in a garage if you have one — helps. You can adjust your car’s alarm, to make it more likely to go off if someone tries to get under the vehicle. And there’s a whole niche market of shields, clamps, protective plates and cages that can be installed to protect converters.
But not everyone can park on a well-lit street or in a garage, and gadgets don’t guarantee protection. Cabrera, at Art’s Automotive, says he’s seen cars with theft deterrent devices still wind up with their converters stolen.
For one driver, though, a converter shield has provided security — at least so far. Greg Feldmeth, a retired teacher in Altadena, had his catalytic converter stolen four times beginning in 2020. When he got a Prius years ago, he was happy with the car and its great gas mileage.
“Since then, I’ve wondered if it was the right choice,” he said. He’s become familiar with the “horrible” noise his Prius makes when it no longer has a converter.
After the part was stolen for a fourth time in October 2021, Feldmeth had a protective shield installed. His converter has stayed put since.
###
CalMatters.org is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics.
This
measure
would require kidney dialysis clinics to have at least one physician,
nurse practitioner or physician assistant with six months of relevant
experience available on site or, in some cases, via telehealth. It
also requires that clinics report infection data to the state, as
well as publicly list physicians who have ownership interest of 5% or
more in a clinic. The measure also prohibits clinics from closing or
reducing services without state approval and from refusing treatment
to people based on their insurance type.
WHY
IS IT ON THE BALLOT?
This
is the third time a labor union, Service Employees International
Union-United Healthcare Workers West, goes after dialysis clinics via
the ballot process. The union says it wants to reform the booming
industry and increase transparency, while dialysis companies that
spent millions to defeat the two prior measures say it’s a union
ploy to pressure clinics and organize dialysis workers.
There
are about 650 dialysis clinics across the state and about 80,000
Californians receive the life-saving treatment. State
analysts estimate
that the clinics have total revenue of about $3.5 billion a year and
that two private, for-profit companies — DaVita Inc. and Fresenius
Medical Care — own or operate three-fourths of the clinics.
ARGUMENTS FOR:
Supporters
argue that dialysis companies do not invest enough in patient care
and safety despite being highly profitable. The hours-long process of
removing blood, filtering it and returning it to the body is a
physically draining process that leaves patients vulnerable to
medical complications. Having a physician or nurse practitioner, in
addition to current staff, available at all times could help reduce
hospitalizations, proponents say. Meanwhile, adding reporting
requirements would increase transparency in the dialysis business.
Supporters
Service
Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West
Opponents
say that this measure is unnecessary as clinics already provide
quality care and have the needed staff to treat and monitor people.
Patients may also reach their nephrologists via telemedicine if
needed. Plus, opponents say, clinics already report infection data to
the federal government. The opposition warns that these new
requirements could result in dangerous consequences — adding
physicians would increase costs for clinics, pushing some to
potentially reduce hours or close.
$12,500! Can you believe it? That what
Contemporary Books, now an imprint of McGraw-Hill, paid me as an
advance back in 1992 for my book Everyday Wonders: Encounters with
the Astonishing World Around Us. It was, to put it mildly, a
shitload of money, paid for our second-hand Miata, now 32 years
old—it’ll see me through. Contemporary offered me a three-book
contract at the time, which I turned down: too much work, went
traveling instead. Moved out of the Bay Area. Bought a house in
Mexico. Made more friends than I deserve. Not to mention many more:
“Hey Barry!” “Um, oh hi, howya doing?” acquaintances. And
here I am, OTCC, late Wednesday afternoon, looking for inspiration
for Sunday’s GOU.
Photo: Barry Evans.
Look no further. Check what you wrote
in that book 30 years ago that made it worth so much to a publisher.
Maybe there’s still something worthwhile. Start with the
introduction. Hmmm, it’s a bit ponderous, trying too hard, but
still, a couple of paras don’t seem too bad at this long
remove:
This book is about the present,
because it’s about awareness: noticing, stopping,
looking, heeding, remarking, observing, beholding, discerning,
perceiving, asking, examining, probing, considering, pondering,
weighing, appraising, studying…right now. It’s
about wonder.
Oh yeah, I remember, I felt I had to
justify the title, Everyday Wonders. I asked Stephen Jay Gould
if “wonder” was an adaptive trait, angling for a blurb on the
back cover (“Barry has captured the essence of humanness! Buy this
book!”) Actually, he snorted (he was a great snorter). “You may
be thinking of curiosity,” he finally allowed. My awkward interview
with him is in the book. Super smart guy, brilliant writer, funny
lecturer. And a pain to interview.
Where were we?
Children enter school as question
marks and leave as periods, wrote author and educator Neil Postman. I
believe that what I’ve termed curiosity-wonder is
innate to children, but that as adults we sometimes need to be
reminded of it. Does the five-year old child who is full of questions
lose his or her innocence and become the eighteen-year-old full of
answers, as Postman implies?
I couldn’t leave it at that, I had
to answer my own rhetorical question.
It’s instructive
and awe-inspiring to watch and listen to the innocent spontaneity of
humans during the first 1500 or so days of their lives, up to age 4
or 5. Every other utterance is a question about something and
everything in their environment…
How wide is up? Is the sea alive? What shape is red? When will I grow up? Where is heaven? What are the birds singing? Why does ice cream taste
happy?
Back then, I was, apparently, an
expert not only in etymology, but also in Old English folklore:
Thirteen hundred years ago,
“wonder” was only a noun, synonymous
with “miracle” or “marvel.”
Beowulf, written around A.D. 720, contains some of the oldest English
prose ever written. In stanza XIII, we encounter the word for the
first time:
Then, so I’ve
heard, there were many warriors Round the gift-hall that
fine morning; Chieftains came from near
and far, Long distances, to look at
the marvel, the monster’s tracks.
In the Old English verse, the last
line reads, “geond wid-wegas wondor sceawian, lathes
lastas.” There it is, wondor, translated here as
“marvel.”
Huh. Who knew? After a few more
paragraphs of deathless prose:
Other times when stargazing, I walk
away from my telescope and just breathe, (This just happened, new
moon evening two weeks ago, Kneeland airport with our local astronomy
group). That’s when I experience long moments of
awe-wonder, awe-full, precious, profound times. I know of no words to
better express such moments than these, from John Fowles:(I
used to devour Fowles’ novels.)
“…like lying on one’s
back as we did in Spain when we slept out looking up between the
fig-branches into the star-corridors, the great seas and oceans of
stars. Knowing what it was to be in the universe.”
On 10/8/2022 at about 11:57am, officers from the Arcata Police Department responded to Mad River Community Hospital on the report of a bomb threat.
While responding to secure the hospital, which had been placed on a lockdown per their protocol, Arcata Communications was able to quickly identify the caller. The caller is known to the Arcata Police Department from previous contacts with them which have consisted of behavioral health assistance. Due to these prior contacts with Arcata Police Officers, it was quickly determined that there was no threat to the hospital or community.
Once on scene, the on-duty supervisor for the hospital was contacted, advised of the situation, and they cancelled the lockdown.
APD officers, assisted by an officer from the Cal Poly Police Department, who have also had contacts with the subject, responded to their residence to conduct a welfare check and assist with any mental health crisis they may be experiencing. Officers tried repeatedly to make contact and provide assistance to the subject, but they would not leave their residence or communicate with officers.
The Arcata Police Department’s Community Outreach Team is following up with social service organizations in the region to continue providing the community member with any assistance they need.
Mad River Community Hospital in Arcata | Screenshot from Google Maps
Mad River Community Hospital in Arcata was under a short lockdown late Saturday morning after someone called in a bomb threat, David Neal, chief executive of the hospital, confirmed with the Outpost this afternoon.
The threat occurred at about 11:55 a.m., Neal said, when the hospital received a call from a female voice saying that there was a bomb inside of the hospital. Following standard protocol, the hospital informed all employees, contacted the police department and went into immediate lockdown until the police arrived to deal with the situation.
Once the Arcata Police Department arrived, it was pretty quickly determined that there was no bomb and the lockdown was lifted after only about 25 or 30 minutes, Neal said. Neal also said that the police were able to identify the person who had called in the threat. But whether or not an arrest was made in unclear.
The Outpost‘s call to APD have not yet been returned. We’ll update when we know more.
News of PG&E spraying power poles alarmed Humboldt County residents. Humboldt, Trinity, and Mendocino Counties have a long and storied history in challenging the application of pesticides.
