Grand Central Mall security aid police in capture of catalytic converter theft suspects
WOOD COUNTY, W.Va. Jan 20 2022 A couple faces charges after police in Wood County said they attempted to steal a catalytic converter from a vehicle at the Grand Central Mall in broad daylight.
Warrants were obtained for Marcus McCormick, 43, and Shelley McCormick, 30, both of Worthington for attempted grand larceny following an incident that police responded to about 2:30 p.m. Monday, according to a news release from the Vienna Police Department.
Police were called to the mall to investigate a report that a person was laying underneath a vehicle and appeared to be tampering with it.
A witness reported a woman appeared to have noticed the witness and notified the man underneath the vehicle. The suspects got into a vehicle and fled the scene.
Police were given a description of the vehicle and spoke to another witness at the Mid-Ohio Valley Medical Building located at the mall. The witness said a man and woman were acting suspiciously in the rear parking lot.
The suspects were gone. Police did search the area with the help of Grand Central Mall Security and found the female suspect. A search warrant was obtained, and the vehicle was impounded.
Police said the investigation found that Marcus McCormick attempted the cut off the catalytic converter of a sport utility vehicle at the Grand Central Mall parking lot, and his wife was present and assisted in the attempt.
When officers searched the vehicle, they found tools consistent with ones that would be needed to remove a catalytic converter, two-way radios, cut piping and items that linked Marcus McCormick to the vehicle, police said.
Later that day, Vienna police were made aware of a similar incident involving a catalytic converter theft from a sport utility vehicle at the St. Joseph Recovery Center. Parkersburg police are investigating.
WCHS
