A man says he has been without his car for over a week after his catalytic converter was stolen.  

Malanamine Tambadian says when he went to retrieve his pick-up truck from the impound last week, he noticed the car was making noises it usually never makes. He says he was at the impound to retrieve the truck after it was towed from Harlem by the city due to unpaid tickets.  

His truck was taken to Five J’s Automotive Impound Lot in the Bronx. He says he received his car but noticed something was off.  

“I went underneath the car,” said Tambadian, “and I see that both catalytic converters are gone.” 

While Tambadian tells News 12 he thinks that the converters were taken while his truck was in the custody of the impound lot, the owner of the lot says that that’s not the case. The owner says that their 24-hour security and staff at the lot would prevent anything from happening.  

“We have never had an incident of theft and we take pride in our reputation with customers,” said the owner of Five J’s.  

Police do have a report on file for this case but have not confirmed if the theft of the converters took place while at the impound lot or in Harlem while the car was parked.  

NYPD does advise car owners to take more preventative measures to stop this theft from occurring, such as etching the license plate number onto the converter, parking in well-lit areas and installing an anti-theft device.