HOLLAND, MI (WHTC-AM/FM, Mar. 21, 2022) – Two men who police believe are behind a string of larcenies involving catalytic convertrs and gasoline siphoning remain in custody, thanks to an undercover operation.
On Tuesday, 42-year-old Elijah Wilson of Hamilton and 35-year-old Michael Harris Jr. were arraigned before Holland District Court Judge Juanita Bocanegra on charges of larceny from a motor vehicle, larceny under $200, and habitual offender-fourth offense. She ordered them held on bonds of $10,000 for Wilson and $5,000 for Harris.
According to Ottawa County Sheriff’s Detective Captain Jake Sparks, operatives from his department, “acting on information from on-going undercover operations,” made the arrests during a traffic stop on Sunday afternoon at an industrial site south of Business 196. “The investigation showed that the group had committed a larceny of a catalytic converter by cutting it from a fleet vehicle parked at a business (at that site),” Sparks said in a department statement. “The suspects also stole gasoline by siphoning it from the tank of a fleet vehicle parked at the business.”
A 34-year-old Pullman woman was questioned at the scene and released.
Although nobody was hurt in the incident, Sparks estimates the damage caused is between three and five thousand dollars.
“Detectives also believe this group to be responsible for numerous larcenies of converters throughout Ottawa County over the past months,” the Captain added. “Additional charges are likely as investigators continue to sort out other crimes this duo is involved in.”
This may include the theft of over 40 catalytic converters from vehicles parked at the Holland Motor Homes and Bus Company on Holland’s East Side the previous weekend.
Anyone with any information on this matter is asked to contact the Ottawa County Sheriff’s Department or Ottawa County Silent Observer (877-887-4536).
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