Two men were arrested and sent to the Harris County Jail after high-speed chases the morning of Nov. 10. Adarrius Del Jackson, 31, and Christopher Fuller, 27, were arrested after a Katy Police Department officer noticed two suspicious vehicles at a business in the 5,300 block of East Fifth Street.

“Due to recent theft incidents at this location where suspects have cut off the catalytic convertor from vehicles, the officer exited his vehicle and attempted to make contact with the drivers of the two vehicles.  Both vehicles fled the scene at a high rate of speed, which initiated two separate vehicle pursuits,” a Katy PD press release read.

The first vehicle sped toward Houston according to the press release. It later crashed into a tree in the 8,900 block of Veteran’s Memorial Drive. The driver, Jackson, was arrested at the scene of the accident where KPD officers also located a catalytic converter next to the wrecked vehicle and tools inside of the vehicle.

The second pursuit led law enforcement to the 25,400 block of Katy Mills Parkway which also ended with the suspect’s vehicle – this time Fuller was the driver – crashing into a tree. Fuller was apprehended after a brief foot chase, the statement said. Officers again found two catalytic converters and tools to cut or remove the converters in the vehicle.

Officers were able to determine that the catalytic converters had been stolen from vehicles in the 5,300 block of East Fifth Street as well as from a U-Haul truck within close proximity.

Catalytic converter thefts have caught KPD’s attention recently after the busses at The Arc of Katy, a local nonprofit that assists those with intellectual and developmental disabilities, had the catalytic converters stolen from its four program busses in late October.

Catalytic converters are part of a vehicle’s exhaust system that convert harmful pollutants and convert them into less harmful emissions prior to exhaust being pushed from the exhaust system, according to Edmunds, an automotive industry watchdog that tracks a variety of trends associated with motor vehicles. According to their website, stolen converters are often taken to metal recycling plants and sold as scrap for between $20 and $200 because they use valuable metals such as rhodium, platinum, palladium and gold in the process to convert exhaust fumes. Replacing catalytic converters can often cost $1,000 or more.

As of Nov. 16, Jackson was still being held at the Harris County Jail and has been charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm, aggregated theft and evading arrest in a motor vehicle. Jail records show a bond set at $20,000 for Jackson.

Harris County Jail records did not show Fuller in custody as of Monday, though he has been charged with evading arrest or detention in a motor vehicle, aggregated theft and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

The Houston Police Department and Harris County Sheriff’s Office aided in the two arrests, the press release said.