                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

BREAKING, INJURING, DEFACING, DESTROYING, OR PREVENTING THE OPERATION OF
VEHICLE, AIRCRAFT, BOAT, OR VESSEL; PENALTIES (§ 18.2-146)

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 misdemeanor, 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 felony. A prosecution or
proceeding for a felony under this section is a bar to a prosecution or
proceeding under § 18.2-137 for the same act.
		A judge or jury may make a permissive inference that a person who is in
possession 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 § 59.1-136.3; or (iii) a person who possesses vehicle registration
documentation indicating that the catalytic converter in the person&#8217;s
possession is the result of a replacement of a catalytic converter from a
vehicle registered in that person&#8217;s name.

HISTORY: Code 1950, § 18.1-166; 1960, c. 358; 1975, cc. 14, 15; 2022, cc. 664,
665; 2023, cc. 90, 91.