<?xml version="1.0"?>
<law><site_title>Virginia Decoded</site_title><site_url>https://vacode.org</site_url><law_id>86932</law_id><section_number>18.2-146</section_number><catch_line>Breaking, injuring, defacing, destroying, or preventing the operation of vehicle, aircraft, boat, or vessel; penalties</catch_line><edition url="https://vacode.org/2025/" slug="2025" current="TRUE" last_updated="">2025</edition><referred_to_by><reference>16.1-278.8</reference><reference>18.2-121.3</reference><reference>18.2-148</reference><reference>18.2-46.1</reference><reference>19.2-327.15</reference></referred_to_by><structure><unit label="title" level="1" order_by="1" identifier="18.2">Crimes and Offenses Generally</unit><unit label="chapter" level="2" order_by="1" identifier="5">Crimes Against Property</unit><unit label="article" level="3" order_by="1" identifier="7">Damage to and Tampering With Property</unit></structure><text>
						<section><p>Any person who shall individually or in association with one or more others willfully break, injure, tamper with, or remove any part or parts of any vehicle, aircraft, boat, or vessel for the purpose of injuring, defacing, or destroying said vehicle, aircraft, boat, or vessel, or temporarily or permanently preventing its useful operation, or for any purpose against the will or without the consent of the owner of such vehicle, aircraft, boat, or vessel, or who shall in any other manner willfully or maliciously interfere with or prevent the running or operation of such vehicle, aircraft, boat, or vessel, is guilty of a Class 1 <span class="dictionary">misdemeanor</span>, unless such violation of this section involves the breaking, injuring, tampering with, or removal of a catalytic converter or the parts thereof, then he is guilty of a Class 6 <span class="dictionary">felony</span>. A <span class="dictionary">prosecution</span> or proceeding for a <span class="dictionary">felony</span> under this section is a bar to a <span class="dictionary">prosecution</span> or proceeding under &#xA7;&#xA0;<a class="law" title="Injuring, etc., any property, monument, etc" href="/18.2-137/">18.2-137</a> for the same act.
		A <span class="dictionary">judge</span> or <span class="dictionary">jury</span> may make a permissive inference that a person who is in <span class="dictionary">possession</span> of a catalytic converter that has been removed from a motor vehicle to have obtained the catalytic converter in violation of this section unless the person is (i) an authorized agent or employee acting in the performance of his official duties for a motor vehicle dealer, motor vehicle garage or repair shop, or salvage yard that is licensed or registered by the Commonwealth; (ii) a scrap metal purchaser that has adhered to the compliance provisions of subdivisions B 1 or 2 of &#xA7;&#xA0;<a class="law" title="Purchases of nonferrous scrap, metal articles, and proprietary articles" href="/59.1-136.3/">59.1-136.3</a>; or (iii) a person who possesses vehicle registration documentation indicating that the catalytic converter in the person&#x2019;s <span class="dictionary">possession</span> is the result of a replacement of a catalytic converter from a vehicle registered in that person&#x2019;s name.</p></section></text><history>Code 1950, &#xA7; 18.1-166; 1960, c. 358; 1975, cc. 14, 15; 2022, cc. 664, 665; 2023, cc. 90, 91.</history><metadata></metadata></law>
