Two men have been charged with stealing catalytic converters from vehicles at a store in Towamensing Township.

According to the affidavit of probable cause filed by Trooper Joseph Campano of the Pennsylvania State Police Lehighton barracks, in the case against Yauheni Lupachyk of Slatington:

At around 11 a.m. Feb. 28, state police were dispatched to a theft of a catalytic converter from the Ashley Furniture Warehouse at 1965 Forest Inn Road, Palmerton.

The manager of the warehouse showed him the first vehicle that they had noticed a catalytic converter was missing from.

Police said large semitrailers have two catalytic converters, and both were missing from the truck.

A distinctive diagonal cut was made on the pipes under the truck where the converter had been. Yellow paint was on the rim of the pipes where the cut was made.

The night before police had made a traffic stop close to this location and had seized eight catalytic converters and yellow DeWalt saw blades from the vehicle.

Campano then advised the manager to check other vehicles on the property for any more missing converters, and then went back to PSP Lehighton barracks and retrieved the seized converters and returned them to the scene of the theft.

The catalytic converters had the same yellow paint on the rims where they were cut, and the rusting was consistent with the pipes under the truck.

One of the converters also had a matching distinctive horizontal cut to the first vehicle and was a perfect fit when held up to the cut pipes under the truck.

Three other vehicles had also been found to be missing two converters each. All three vehicles had the same yellow paint on the cuts under the trucks. A used yellow DeWalt saw blade was also found under one of the vehicles.

Campano then determined that the subjects of the prior arrest: Lupachyk, 31, and Michael Conklin, 21, were responsible. They confessed to the crime.

Lupachyk is currently incarcerated in the Carbon County Correctional Facility in lieu of $25,000 monetary bail, and was scheduled to have a preliminary hearing today before District Judge William J. Kissner of Palmerton.

Conklin has not been served yet.