university
RAYMOND BREWER-POSEY
Opinion Staff Writer
rbrewerp@unca.edu
PHOTO COURTESY OF TONY WEBSTER
Student vehicies at risk of larceny
PEYTON SHEEHAN
News Staff Writer
msheeha3@unca.edu
Three UNC Asheville students’
catalytic converters were stolen
from their vehicles on Oct. 12 in
parking lot P2 as well as at The
Verge apartments. The suspect(s)
were able to remove the catalytic
converters from the cars in only a
matter of minutes.
Eric Boyce, UNCA’s assistant
vice chancellor of public safety,
said these larceny crimes are still
an ongoing investigation and they
were able to obtain images of one
of the suspects in PI.
“The suspect(s) covered the li
cense plate up when they came and
they wore things over their faces,”
Boyce said. “We know that it is a
darker color SUV, so we have been
on the lookout for that vehicle. It
looks like a Nissan Rogue based on
our comparison of other vehicles.”
With the possible use of an elec
tric or battery operated saw, the
suspect took about three minutes
to remove the catalytic converter,
Boyce said.
According to the National Insur
ance Crime Bureau, in 2016, cat
alytic converter thefts were more
common than expected. Since
2008, 25,394 catalytic converters
have been stolen. The number of
catalytic converters thefts are on
the rise due to the three precious
metals, all from the platinum fam
ily, contained in the converter, ac
cording to Specialty Metals.
Boyce said although there are
precious metals in the converter, the
levels of platinum are low enough
that it has to be broken down in or
der to extract the metals.
Boyce said UNCA is actively in
vestigating these incidents and is in
contact with the Asheville Police
Department, Woodfin Police De
partment and the sheriff’s office to
see if they are experiencing issues
as well.
North Carolina General Assem
bly Article 45 states the regulation
on the sales of catalytic converters.
Although it is not a crime to sell
them, according to the statute they
must be on a car or have written
consent of the seller.
To help with this investigation,
students can be on the lookout, es
pecially in the areas that students
park their vehicles for prolonged
periods of time.
If you see someone tamper
ing with a vehicle, take a picture
or a video and report it through
Rocky Shield or dial 6710 from
any on-campus phone to submit an
anonymous tip.
UNC Asheville’s renovation
of Highsmith Student Union and
the construction of new residence
halls prove to be factors in the
major on-campus parking issues
affecting nonresident students,
faculty and staff.
“The best place for new con
struction is a place that has al
ready been developed and those
are generally parking lots,” said
Eric Boyce, assistant vice chan
cellor for public safety at UNCA.
Ideally, the construction of new
residence halls, will allow more
students to be housed on campus.
This comes at the expense of con
venient parking for nonresident
students and faculty members
who commute by car.
According to the university’s
construction update page, park
ing lots P21, P22 and P23 were
removed for the new residence
halls. Given the finite space avail
able on campus, additional con
struction must take the place of
something else, Boyce said.
“The easiest solution is to build
more parking, but when we look at
building parking that costs mon
ey. It’s a very expensive proposi
tion so you have to decide: do you
want your green spaces or do you
want parking lots?” Boyce said.
In the past, more parking spaces
were lost to construction than in
the current project. The construc
tion of Zeis Hall and the construc
tion of the Sherrill Center took
more parking away at the time of
construction, Boyce said.
Tentative solutions have been
posed in an attempt to accommo
date for the amount of nonresident
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