Catalytic converter theft attempt leads to arrests

Two people were arrested after police said they tried to steal a catalytic converter from a vehicle parked at Johnson Memorial Hospital early Wednesday.

Danny Malone, 42, of 65 W. Morgan St., Martinsville, was arrested on charges of attempted crime and criminal mischief. Ashley Conner, 26, of 1420 Bailey Drive, Indianapolis, was arrested on a charge of driving with a suspended license with a previous conviction.

A couple drove to the hospital, where the man started to cut the catalytic converter from under a vehicle in the parking lot about 12:30 a.m., according to a Johnson County Sheriff’s Office report. When people started approaching the pair, the man got back in the car, which sped south on U.S. 31 and then turned onto Nineveh Road, the report said.

Witnesses called police thinking they’d just seen an abduction in the parking lot, and one witness got in a car and started following the pair. Police stopped the pair at County Road 300W in Trafalgar, the report said.

Malone and Conner were arrested and taken to the Johnson County jail. Malone was being held on $4,000 bond, and Conner was released on $1,000 bond.