Richland deputies charge scrap yard owner with illegally buying catalytic converters
A Richland County scrap metal dealer was jailed Thursday on dozens of charges that he illegally bought catalytic converters.
The Richland County Sheriff’s Department charged 44-year-old Timothy Eron Dickensheets, owner of American Scrap Iron and Metal, with 47 counts of unlawfully buying nonferrous metals.
Deputies jailed Dickensheets at Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center, where he remained Friday afternoon awaiting a bond hearing.
Dickensheets could not show ownership documents for 47 catalytic converters that were purchased at his scrapyard from June 1 to July 1, deputies said.
“I hope this arrest sends a strong message to those that refuse to follow the recently passed law on catalytic converters,” Sheriff Leon Lott said in a statement. “So many victims have suffered from catalytic converter thefts in our state. Without places that illegally purchase converters, the thieves would not have a source to sell them.”
Catalytic converters are part of a vehicle’s exhaust system. The converters contain platinum, palladium, and rhodium — valuable metals as precious, if not more precious, as gold.
The theft of catalytic converters significantly rose in South Carolina during the last two years. In February, The State reported that in the first months of the year, “dozens and dozens” of catalytic converters were stolen. Lott said the thefts were “out of control” and that 10 converters were probably stolen a day in Richland County.
In one heist in Lexington County, a man was caught with 83 catalytic converters, the Lexington sheriff’s department said. In another case, state agents charged a Barnwell police officer with illegally buying and selling metal, including catalytic converters, which made him $20,000.
Scrupulous metal dealers will purchase the stolen converters.
In May, South Carolina passed a law to crack down on catalytic converter theft. The law requires that ownership of a catalytic converter be proven through specific documents.
Honest metal recyclers who helped get the law passed follow it, Lott said. “Unfortunately, we have a few like American Scrap Iron and Metal that don’t. They will be dealt with accordingly.”
This isn’t Dickensheets’ first controversy over his scrap metal business.
In March, the city of Columbia sued its own zoning board after the board made way for Dickensheets to open another scrap metal yard on Shop Road. Two environmental groups also sued the zoning board over its decision.
“I plan to pursue this and also file an actual monetary suit against the city, 100%,” Dickensheets told The State at the time. “We did what the city asked and were granted (an exception), and then turned around and it’s being pulled away.”
Prior to that, the Columbia Fire Department battled several fires at Dickensheets’ scrapyard on Fairfield Road, Fire Chief Aubrey Jenkins said.
American Scrap Iron has two locations, on Fairfield Road and in Cayce on the Charleston Highway.
This story was originally published September 30, 2021 at 3:10 PM.