Two Davie County residents have been identified as suspects in the theft of catalytic converters, the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.

Michael Wayne Hester, 39, and 40-year-old Holly Marie Robertson were both arrested Thursday and charged with felony larceny of motor vehicle parts.

The Rowan County Sheriff’s Office began investigating the thefts in January after reports of catalytic converters surfaced throughout the Salisbury area. The suspects removed the catalytic converters using a saw, said Capt. John Sifford.

During the investigation, a male suspect was caught at C&D Salvage near China Grove stealing catalytic converters. When the employee confronted the suspect, he ran. Rowan County Sheriff’s detectives began following leads that were developed and identified Hester and Robertson as possible suspects.

Rowan County detectives responded to the Mocksville area and met with Davie County Sheriff’s detectives. The investigators located Hester and Robertson at a Davie County residence, where they found catalytic converters on the property.

Hester remains in the Rowan County jail under a $3,000 secured bond and Robertson under a $2,500 secured bond.

Detectives expect more arrests as they continue to look into other catalytic converter thefts.

Anyone with information about this case is asked to contact Detective P. Schmeltzer at 704-216-8702 or Detective T. Allen at 704-216-8715.