The Shiawassee Area Transportation Agency (SATA) is temporarily suspending bus operations following the theft of some of its vehicles’ catalytic converters.
Thieves often target the equipment because of the value of the metals found in them. Over the weekend, converters were stolen from nine of SATA’s 18 buses.
Mary Rice is the agency’s executive director. She said operations “have been suspended for the week while we order parts and get the labor to replace the catalytic converters.”
In a Facebook post, SATA says the suspension of service is week to week.
When asked why partial services weren’t being offered using the remaining buses, Rice only said there were "other issues going on."
She said the thefts are being investigated by the county sheriff’s office.
“Any leads that the community has would be appreciated if they call the sheriff’s department,” she added. “We hope that the person or persons responsible are found.”