At first, Peter Velenosi was angry. Then he did something about it.
Velenosi, who works at the Midland Rona location, said he was upset when a young coworker came back into the store after her shift Friday evening to say someone had cut out the catalytic converter from underneath her vehicle while she was working.
“She’s only 18 and this is first car,” said Velenosi, who isn’t identifying the teen, but noted she works at the store as a cashier.
“This poor young lady works so hard and doesn't deserve this. She’s still in school. It’s definitely a crappy situation.”
To help her pay for what should have been an unnecessary repair, Velenosi has started a fundraiser, which has mostly seen donations from fellow Rona employees. As of late Tuesday, the campaign sat at just over $300.
“She couldn’t believe people were donating,” Velenosi said.
According to Velenosi, there are no cameras facing the parking lot where staff leave their vehicles while working and like most companies, employees don't receive compensation if their vehicles are damaged during a shift.
“It happened in broad daylight,” he said, noting his coworker went to her vehicle during a break to enjoy some air conditioning during a blistering hot day and didn’t notice any issues.
That changed however, a couple of hours later when her shift ended and she went to start the vehicle, an older-model Honda CRV.
Velenosi said she quickly realized something was amiss with the noise and came back into the store.
“It startled her because it was so loud,” Velenosi said. “She had to have her vehicle towed to her home at her expense. I’m looking to raise just enough money to pay for a pipe to be welded in place.”
According to Velenosi, the estimated cost to fully repair and replace the damaged exhaust system would run close to $1,500.
“If you could just warn readers to report anything suspicious they see,” Velenosi said, noting someone working underneath a vehicle might not always be above-board.
While police were called to the scene, Velenosi said an attending officer noted catalytic converter theft has become an all-too-common occurrence nowadays.
Southern Georgian Bay OPP Const. David Hobson said there was one other catalytic converter theft in recent days.
"(A) safety tip would be to park at night in a lit up area, daytime park in a visible location rather than a non-visible location," said Hobson, who also provided a website link outlining tips to combat catalytic converter thefts.
