Photo: James Patrick Lally
A Mountain Home man facing charges stemming from a rash of catalytic converter thefts in the area appeared in Baxter County Circuit Court Monday.
Thirty-eight-year-old James Patrick Lally pled guilty and was sentenced to five years in prison and ordered to pay almost $30,000 in restitution.
He faced charges in four active criminal cases.
Lally is accused of going on the prowl at night wearing dark clothing, carrying tools in a backpack and either riding a bicycle or walking.
He is alleged to have cut catalytic converters from vehicles and then sold them to scrap yards.
In a several-week period early this year, the Mountain Home Police Department received reports of 34 converter thefts with similar thefts reported in Gassville.
A female identified as Lally’s girlfriend, who lives along State Highway 201 North, told investigators he would usually go out about 10 p.m. and return somewhere around 4 a.m.
She said he normally wore a hoodie and covered his face. When asked why he would dress like that, the woman said, “To do whatever he is doing, stealing.”
The woman said Lally worked in a garage on the property.
On April 6, investigators went to the woman’s home a second time and found Lally in the garage.
During a search of the building, officers recovered three catalytic converters in the attic.
They also found tools, including a tail pipe cutter, reciprocating saw and a metal grinder.
A headlamp and a box containing numerous used saw blades were located.
Investigators said that the blades were the same type that had been found at the scene of some of the catalytic converter thefts.
Police also reported finding a portable car jack.
As officers were searching, Lally took the opportunity to flee the scene. He has a history of fleeing from police.
In the probable cause affidavit, Lally is reported to have sold a number of the converters.
In one case, he is accused of selling seven converters to two scrap yards – one in Mountain Home and the other in Harrison. He is alleged to have received a total of almost $3,100 in those transactions.
Thieves target catalytic converters because they contain precious metals such as platinum, palladium or rhodium.
A recent example of spot prices for the metals showed an ounce of platinum costing $1,135 and palladium $2,322.
At one point, Lally is alleged to have told a Gassville police officer that he got the converters “from a ‘crack head’ in Missouri.”
He refused to provide a name, saying it was “against his religion to snitch.”
In addition to the theft charges, Lally faces drug-related charges stemming from an event in mid-April.
A Baxter County sheriff’s deputy was called to a convenience store at the intersection of Buzzard Roost Road and the Sheid-Hopper Bypass to investigate a possible armed robbery.
During his time on the scene, the deputy encountered Lally in a backroom of the business.
When a check was run, the deputy was informed Lally had an active arrest warrant from the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office.
Lally was taken into custody. When searched, he was found to have a glass-smoking pipe, commonly used to ingest methamphetamine, in his pocket.
A sample of a white substance in the pipe field tested positive for methamphetamine.
Lally has had criminal cases opened against him since 2011. The majority of the cases have dealt with drug or property crimes.
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