A5
THE ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, AUGUST 16, 2022
Catalytic converter crime ring busted
OBITUARIES
JoAnn (Oja) Karolczak
Culprits arrested are from
Lake Oswego and Beaverton
New Braunfels, Texas
Dec. 14, 1934 — July 22, 2022
JoAnn (Oja) Karolczak passed peace- nia. While in California, she worked at and
fully in her sleep at home on the Guadalupe managed several delicatessens.
River Road near New Braunfels, Texas, on
In 1994, she and Peter moved to his
July 22 with family by her side.
hometown of Burg-Spreewald in
She was 87.
Germany. There they operated a
She was born Dec. 14, 1934, in
bed-and-breakfast until his death
New Braunfels, to Erwin and Ger-
in 2013. JoAnn continued to oper-
trude (Bettge) Meckel.
ate the business before selling it in
Jo, as she was called by many,
2015 and moving back to Texas,
spent her childhood years in New
where she lived in the “cabin,” as
Braunfels before moving up the
she and Peter called it, that they
Guadalupe River to Mountain
had built on her property on the
Breeze Camp, which her mother
Guadalupe River Road out of
and father established in 1951.
New Braunfels. She resided there
JoAnn Karolczak
She attended New Braunfels
until her death.
schools and played drums in the
JoAnn and Peter traveled
New Braunfels High School Unicorns extensively around the world, especially
marching band.
enjoying Europe, Central America and
In 1952, she married Eugene “Ace” South America. Jo was an avid photogra-
Moeller. Together they had two children, pher from an early age, taking thousands
Wayne and Jaquelynn.
of photos and creating a large collection of
After Jo and Ace divorced, she married photo albums.
Richard Oja in 1955. Jo and Richard moved
JoAnn is survived by her children,
their family to his hometown of Knappa in Wayne, and his wife, Pam, of Warren-
late 1956 after his discharge from the U.S. ton, Jackie, of Vancouver, Washington,
Air Force. They had three children together, Nancy, and her husband, Bill, of Philo-
Nancy, Neil and Mark. JoAnn spent most of math, Neil, of Flower Mound, Texas, and
her time raising her children. She was active Mark, and his wife, Millie, of Svensen. She
in the Knappa schools PTA and was leader is also survived by nine grandchildren; 14
of a 4-H sewing club for several years.
great-grandchildren; two great-great grand-
In 1965, Jo and Richard built the Log- children; sisters, Joyce Bujnoch and Elaine
ger Restaurant in Knappa. They operated it Meckel, both of New Braunfels; and many
together until their divorce in 1974.
cousins, nieces and nephews.
In 1975, she moved with her partner,
Cremation arrangements were by Doep-
Peter Karolczak, to Belmont, California. penschmidt Funeral Home in Sattler, Texas.
They later married. After several years in
A celebration of life will be held in Texas
Belmont, they moved to Hayward, Califor- at a later date.
Capt. Duff y Duncan
Astoria
June 16, 1948 — Aug. 7, 2022
The man, myth and legend, Capt. Duff y both locally in Astoria and Bristol Bay,
Duncan, of Astoria, passed away unexpect- Alaska.
edly to the sea in the sky on Aug. 7 at the
Duff y loved traveling to Hawaii and
age of 74.
Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. He lived
He graduated in 1966 from
each day to the fullest. We will
Hillsboro High School in Hills-
miss our legendary father, and
boro and later attended Clatsop
friend, to the end of time.
Community College in Astoria.
Duff y was preceded in death
All knew him to be larger than
by his father, Norman Duncan Sr.;
life, with an infectious laugh, and
brother, Ed Duncan; and daugh-
always ready with a crazy fi shing
ter, Carly.
story, weather or stock report. His
He is survived by his mother,
need for speed started at an early
Patricia Minard; sister, Jan Hinkle
age, drag racing his 409 or pop-
(spouse, Dave); daughter, Amy
ping wheelies on his Bultaco dirt Capt. Duff y Duncan Boultinghouse (spouse, Dale);
bike. He amassed an infi nite num-
daughter, Molly May (spouse,
ber of speeding tickets in his prized 500 Rick); daughter, Miranda Bodyfelt (spouse,
horsepower Z06 Corvette.
Scott); daughter, Kelsey Duncan; grandchil-
One of his biggest accomplishments was dren, Evan May, Cody May, Jaycee Boult-
securing a United Nations contract to ferry inghouse, Emmett Bodyfelt and Brendan
the fi shing vessel Tropac 5,000 miles across Duncan; and great-granddaughter, Willow
the Pacifi c to American Samoa, where he May.
was integral in training the local fi sher-
Hughes-Ransom Mortuary is in charge
man modern tuna fi shing techniques, later of the arrangements.
becoming their biggest industry. Numerous
A graveside service was held Sunday
bets were placed on their lives prior to the at Old Scotch Church Cemetery at 30685
risky voyage. The mission was completed in N.W. Scotch Church Road in Hillsboro. A
just 27 days, and they were warmly greeted reception followed at Hawks Run Estate,
by the U.S. Coast Guard and governor.
4200 N.W. Leisy Road in Hillsboro.
He owned and operated several com-
Donations can be made to the Deep Sea
mercial fi shing vessels, including the Viola Fishermen’s Benefi t Fund in Warrenton or
II, Piranha, Carly D., and the Patricia Ann, Salmon for All.
By SAVANNAH EADENS
The Oregonian
A months long investigation by the Bea-
verton Police Department may have com-
pletely dismantled a local organized crime
ring responsible for a large portion of cata-
lytic converter thefts up and down the West
Coast, police said .
Two alleged ringleaders and at least 12 of
their suspected accomplices were indicted
July 29 by a Washington County grand jury
on dozens of aggravated theft, racketeering
and money laundering charges.
The investigation began in late 2021
when detectives said Tanner Lee Hellbusch,
32, of Beaverton, was running an illegal
fencing operation by posing as a legitimate
business buying and selling catalytic con-
verters. In March, police said they pulled
over Hellbusch with more than 100 stolen
catalytic converters, worth about $80,000
on the black market.
Hellbusch’s arrest led detectives to the
person they believe is the top of the crime
enterprise: Brennan Patrick Doyle, 32, of
Lake Oswego.
The investigation came to a head in late
July when police searched eight locations,
including a rented lakefront house in Lake
Oswego, where they arrested Doyle and
said they found 3,000 catalytic converters,
hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, a
high-end car and jewelry.
Doyle, Hellbusch and the 12 other not-
yet-publicly-named defendants are accused
of traffi cking more than 44,000 stolen cat-
alytic converters with an estimated street
value of more than $22 million since
January.
“The defendants in this case were liv-
ing a nice life,” said Offi cer Matt Hender-
son, a spokesperson for Beaverton police, at
a Thursday press conference.
Police said Doyle’s organization was
capitalizing on the increased price of heavy
metals such as rhodium, platinum and pal-
ladium found in catalytic converters, which
cleanse gas emissions and reduce pollution.
Rhodium, for example, is valued at over
$14,000 an ounce. A standard catalytic con-
verter has just a few grams of precious met-
als. While an intact catalytic converter is
typically sold for $150 to $300 cash on the
black market, police estimate that once the
metal is extracted at a refi nery, it’s worth
about $800.
Because catalytic converters don’t have
identifying numbers, they aren’t traceable.
So it’s impossible to know how many of
the recovered converters came from cars in
Oregon, Henderson said.
Police offi cials said the organized crime
ring was centered in the Portland area but
also spanned six Oregon counties and Wash-
ington state, Nevada, California, Texas and
New York.
The crime ring shipped large boxes of
converters to the East Coast and internation-
ally, Henderson said. Dozens, if not hun-
Stacy Jepson, Beaverton’s interim police
chief, spoke in front of about 1,000 catalytic
converters, which were taken for evidence
after a monthslong investigation brought
down a local organized crime ring that
allegedly raked in millions of dollars stealing
converters up and down the West Coast.
dreds, of people may have been involved
in the operation, he added, but declined to
share more details in the ongoing inves-
tigation as detectives are still gathering
evidence.
“This business was turning millions of
dollars worth of profi t in catalytic convert-
ers,” Henderson said. “You need an organi-
zation and multiple people to do that.”
At least 1,000 catalytic converters from
the sting are sitting in evidence boxes at
Beaverton Police Department’s garage.
Henderson said the department is brain-
storming how to get the money from those
converters back to the community.
Henderson said dozens of law enforce-
ment offi cers from several local agencies
spent thousands of hours on this case. Over
the months, they were constantly weigh-
ing the “risk and reward” of continuing
the investigation and building a case while
Doyle and his associates allegedly kept rak-
ing in money.
“They reached a point in their investiga-
tion where they’re confi dent that they could
take off a portion of the organization,” Hen-
derson said.
Stacy Jepson, Beaverton’s interim police
chief, said she hoped the work of investiga-
tors in her department will provide a blue-
print to other law enforcement agencies
locally and nationally.
“Patience has allowed us to take this
organization down instead of just scratching
the surface,” Jepson said.
Court documents show Doyle was oper-
ating under a limited liability company in
his name.
Doyle had no previous criminal record
in Oregon. In the stolen catalytic converter
indictment, he’s been charged with 69
counts of aggravated theft.
Beaverton police arrested Hellbusch
last summer for trespassing and he was
found guilty in a misdemeanor charge for
being in possession of a burglary tool. He’s
been convicted three times in Multnomah
County in the past decade for driving while
impaired and was arrested on several occa-
sions for driving with a revoked or sus-
pended license.
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REGIONAL FORECAST
Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.
Seattle
75 58
76 59
72 59
Mostly sunny
Clouds and sun
and nice
73 58
72 57
Low clouds may
Low clouds
Low clouds
break
72 56
73 57
Low clouds
Cloudy with a
shower
Aberdeen
Olympia
77/59
81/61
Wenatchee
Tacoma
Moses
Lake
83/56
85/57
Salem
ALMANAC
UNDER THE SKY
TODAY'S TIDES
Astoria through Sunday
Tonight’s Sky: Conjunction
of waning gibbous moon and
Jupiter.
Astoria / Port Docks
Temperatures
High/low ................................ 73/51
Normal high/low .................. 69/54
Record high .................. 90 in 1942
Record low .................... 44 in 1984
Precipitation
Sunday ..................................... 0.00”
Month to date ........................ 0.18”
Normal month to date ......... 0.37”
Year to date .......................... 43.06”
Normal year to date ........... 38.37”
Forecasts and graphics provided by
AccuWeather, Inc. ©2022
Time
High (ft.) Time Low (ft.)
4:54 a.m.
5:26 p.m.
7.0 11:11 a.m. 0.0
7.6 11:55 p.m. 0.5
Cape Disappointment
4:25 a.m.
5:03 p.m.
Source: Jim Todd, OMSI
Hammond
SUN AND MOON
Sunrise today .................. 6:16 a.m.
Sunset tonight ............... 8:23 p.m.
Moonrise today ........... 10:48 p.m.
Moonset today ............ 11:48 a.m.
Last
New
First
Full
4:39 a.m.
5:12 p.m.
Warrenton
4:49 a.m.
5:21 p.m.
Knappa
5:31 a.m.
6:03 p.m.
Depoe Bay
Aug 18 Aug 27 Sep 3 Sep 10
3:39 a.m.
4:16 p.m.
7.0 10:23 a.m. 0.2
7.5 11:05 p.m. 0.7
7.4 10:41 a.m. 0.1
7.9 11:25 p.m. 0.6
7.4 10:55 a.m. 0.1
8.0 11:39 p.m. 0.6
7.3 12:05 a.m. 0.5
7.9 12:12 p.m. 0.0
7.3 9:50 a.m. 0.3
8.0 10:37 p.m. 1.0
City
Atlanta
Boston
Chicago
Dallas
Denver
Honolulu
Houston
Los Angeles
Miami
New York City
Phoenix
San Francisco
Wash., DC
Wed.
Hi/Lo/W
88/71/t
76/64/pc
80/65/pc
102/82/s
83/58/t
88/75/pc
98/77/s
92/68/s
91/78/t
82/66/c
104/84/t
78/59/pc
82/65/sh
84/68/r
72/61/r
81/63/s
99/73/c
87/62/s
89/75/sh
98/78/s
92/67/s
91/79/pc
80/65/pc
104/84/t
77/60/pc
82/66/pc
Weather (W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy,
c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms,
r-rain, sf-snow fl urries, sn-snow, i-ice.
92/56
Kennewick Walla Walla
97/66 Lewiston
99/61
99/64
Hermiston
The Dalles 100/60
Enterprise
Pendleton 94/58
97/64
100/67
La Grande
97/54
92/62
NATIONAL CITIES
Today
Hi/Lo/W
Pullman
96/61
86/62
75/58 Portland
90/65
94/63
Yakima 96/62
Longview
Astoria
Spokane
95/68
Corvallis
91/60
Albany
91/61
John Day
Eugene
Bend
93/60
95/58
99/58
Ontario
102/64
Caldwell
Burns
98/56
98/60
Medford
98/66
Klamath Falls
97/54
City
Baker City
Brookings
Ilwaco
Newberg
Newport
Today
Hi/Lo/W
96/50/s
75/58/s
73/60/s
91/62/s
66/54/pc
Wed.
Hi/Lo/W
99/55/pc
69/56/c
75/58/c
100/65/pc
65/54/c
City
North Bend
Roseburg
Seaside
Springfi eld
Vancouver
Today
Hi/Lo/W
69/56/pc
94/62/s
76/59/s
93/60/s
89/63/s
Wed.
Hi/Lo/W
67/57/c
98/66/pc
79/59/c
101/64/pc
99/69/pc