{"id":5362,"date":"2026-06-24T04:02:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T04:02:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=5362"},"modified":"2026-06-24T04:02:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T04:02:09","slug":"catalytic-converter-thefts-surge-in-harris-county-as-critics-question-low-bonds-for-repeat-offenders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=5362","title":{"rendered":"Catalytic converter thefts surge in Harris County as critics question low bonds for repeat offenders"},"content":{"rendered":"<div> <!-- --> <!-- --><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>HARRIS COUNTY, Texas<\/strong> &#8211; <\/span>Catalytic converter thefts are on the rise here in Harris County. If it continues, the number of thefts will double last year&#8217;s total. The reason cited by officials is the rising cost of metal.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=5360\">Houston weather: Humid, hazy conditions for Tuesday World Cup match<\/a><\/p>\n<h2>Repeat offenders, low bonds raise questions amid spike in Harris County catalytic converter thefts<\/h2>\n<p> <!-- --><\/p>\n<p>What they&#8217;re saying:<\/p>\n<p> <!-- --><\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p> <!-- --><\/p>\n<p>While new laws tout stiffer penalties, we are seeing extremely low bonds for those accused of committing the crime.<\/p>\n<p> <!-- --><\/p>\n<p>26-year-old Guadalupe Gomez and 24-year-old Donald Mitchell are accused of stealing catalytic converters on June 20. Both have lengthy criminal histories.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=5354\">Southeast Houston Fire: What we know about the company<\/a><\/p>\n<p> <!-- --><\/p>\n<p>Gomez is free on one of the lowest bonds we&#8217;ve seen.<\/p>\n<p> <!-- --><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;He bonded out for Catalytic converter theft, which is a felony for $2,500 dollars,&#8221; said Andy Kahan with Crime Stoppers. &#8220;The DA&#8217;s office, rightfully so, asked for a bond of $35,000.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p> <!-- --> <!-- --><\/p>\n<p>The 180th set the low bond instead.<\/p>\n<p> <!-- --><\/p>\n<p>After being a wanted fugitive in Harris County for more than a year, Mitchell was given a probated sentence in Rusk County then got sentenced to probation in Harris County.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=5351\">San Antonio mayor calls for cancelation of Ye concert at Alamodome<\/a><\/p>\n<p> <!-- --><\/p>\n<p>He remains jailed under a $35,000 bond.<\/p>\n<p> <!-- --> <!-- --> <!-- --> <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Catalytic converter thefts are on the rise here in Harris County. If it continues, the number of thefts will double last year&#8217;s total. The reason cited by officials is the rising cost of metal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5361,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[123,7,8,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5362","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking-bond","category-harris-county","category-news","category-top-stories"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Catalytic converter thefts surge in Harris County as critics question low bonds for repeat offenders - Houston Moving Journal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=5362\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Catalytic converter thefts surge in Harris County as critics question low bonds for repeat offenders - Houston Moving Journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Catalytic converter thefts are on the rise here in Harris County. If it continues, the number of thefts will double last year&#039;s total. The reason cited by officials is the rising cost of metal.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=5362\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Houston Moving Journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-24T04:02:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/?p=5362#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/?p=5362\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e51740aab7bd577378c5f91b003a39ba\"},\"headline\":\"Catalytic converter thefts surge in Harris County as critics question low bonds for repeat offenders\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-24T04:02:09+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/?p=5362\"},\"wordCount\":232,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/?p=5362#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/3b6e91409eea7b53c555873a70b19c5b.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Breaking Bond\",\"Harris County\",\"News\",\"Top Stories\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/?p=5362#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/?p=5362\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/?p=5362\",\"name\":\"Catalytic converter thefts surge in Harris County as critics question low bonds for repeat offenders - Houston Moving Journal\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/?p=5362#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/?p=5362#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/3b6e91409eea7b53c555873a70b19c5b.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-24T04:02:09+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e51740aab7bd577378c5f91b003a39ba\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/?p=5362#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/?p=5362\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/?p=5362#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/3b6e91409eea7b53c555873a70b19c5b.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/3b6e91409eea7b53c555873a70b19c5b.webp\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":630},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/?p=5362#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Catalytic converter thefts surge in Harris County as critics question low bonds for repeat offenders\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Houston Moving Journal\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e51740aab7bd577378c5f91b003a39ba\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Catalytic converter thefts surge in Harris County as critics question low bonds for repeat offenders - Houston Moving Journal","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=5362","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Catalytic converter thefts surge in Harris County as critics question low bonds for repeat offenders - Houston Moving Journal","og_description":"Catalytic converter thefts are on the rise here in Harris County. If it continues, the number of thefts will double last year's total. The reason cited by officials is the rising cost of metal.","og_url":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=5362","og_site_name":"Houston Moving Journal","article_published_time":"2026-06-24T04:02:09+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=5362#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=5362"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/#\/schema\/person\/e51740aab7bd577378c5f91b003a39ba"},"headline":"Catalytic converter thefts surge in Harris County as critics question low bonds for repeat offenders","datePublished":"2026-06-24T04:02:09+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=5362"},"wordCount":232,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=5362#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/3b6e91409eea7b53c555873a70b19c5b.webp","articleSection":["Breaking Bond","Harris County","News","Top Stories"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=5362#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=5362","url":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=5362","name":"Catalytic converter thefts surge in Harris County as critics question low bonds for repeat offenders - Houston Moving Journal","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=5362#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=5362#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/3b6e91409eea7b53c555873a70b19c5b.webp","datePublished":"2026-06-24T04:02:09+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/#\/schema\/person\/e51740aab7bd577378c5f91b003a39ba"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=5362#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=5362"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=5362#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/3b6e91409eea7b53c555873a70b19c5b.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/3b6e91409eea7b53c555873a70b19c5b.webp","width":1200,"height":630},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=5362#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Catalytic converter thefts surge in Harris County as critics question low bonds for repeat offenders"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/","name":"Houston Moving Journal","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/#\/schema\/person\/e51740aab7bd577378c5f91b003a39ba","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com"],"url":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5362","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5362"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5362\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5361"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5362"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5362"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5362"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}