DES MOINES, Wash. — Volunteers and staff at a South King County food bank are fed up after repeatedly being hit by thieves who are stealing catalytic converters and gasoline by tearing into gas tanks or ripping off the converters.
Some of the volunteers say the thieves even tried to cut off a door to a vehicle.
The volunteers and the director of the Des Moines Area Food Bank spoke to us about this issue and said it has been going on for more than a year, but recent incidents happened in the last week and a half.
A visit to the parking lot of the food bank shows why the vehicles are tempting targets. They’re out in the lot overnight when not being used; it’s a situation that makes it simple for any potential thief to come and cut a gas line or cut off a catalytic converter.
Phil Damron runs on one of the functioning food trucks. He volunteers to pick up food. As he was making a run Wednesday morning, he made it clear how he felt about the situation.
“It’s incredibly frustrating. we’re here to help people,” said Damron.
Damron knows many of the food bank’s vans and trucks have been hit by thieves, who rendered them useless.
“We don’t have the ability to help all these people. People started flooding into the food bank looking for help. When our trucks are out of business, we have no way to go get food,” he said.
Kris Van Gasken is Executive Director of the Des Moines Food Bank, and also confirmed that the issue with the trucks has been present for some time.
“It’s kind of an ongoing thing we’ve had a bunch of our catalytic converters stolen we’ve had gas tanks cut into,” said Van Gasken. “It’s such a waste. It costs so much to get them repaired. Our numbers are up 75% over this time last year. So, there is a real need. Prices have skyrocketed; the price of gas is obviously high.”
On top of the frustration with the truck fleet, Van Gasken also has a freezer that’s not working and other issues.
She wishes fixing the trucks could be a priority, but the reality is feeding people is the top priority.
“There’s a shortage of mechanics, so it’s hard to get things fixed in a quick time,” she said.
Van Gasken says police are investigating.
Everyone with the food bank hopes a frank appeal to just stop can help, but many of them also know, that rising gas and food prices can drive people to target the food bank for criminal activity.
“It’s 2 minutes — you come in (and) the catalytic converter is gone,” she said.
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