Long Beach police say three people were arrested for stealing catalytic converters from cars.

They believe that the men drove to Long Beach from Philadelphia and are part of a larger criminal ring that cuts parts out of cars and makes thousands of dollars in one night.

Police say they got a 911 call at 2:30 a.m. that a man on Shore Road and Franklin Boulevard heard the sound of a saw, looked out his window and witnessed three men, one of them wearing a construction vest, cut a catalytic convertor out of a 2007 Honda Element. The men sped away and police caught up to them.

"We were able to see one of these construction vests beneath the seat as well as in the back of the car, the catalytic convertors, Sawzall and the jack that they use to raise the cars," said Long Beach Police Commissioner Ron Walsh.

The entire crime takes just minutes and can be very lucrative. There have been a rash of catalytic convertor thefts across the island, with more than 500 of them since last year in Nassau County alone. But it's not just the catalytic converters criminals are after.

"What they're interested is in the metals inside it. There's a metal in there called erodium that when they take out, it's worth $18,000 an ounce. So, they'll take a couple of hundred of these, they'll get an ounce and in a couple days work, they'll get themselves quite a bit of money," Walsh explained.

Police say the suspects were driving a car they found on an app called Toro, which Walsh explained is a crowd-sourcing type of application where people can sign up to rent or car share their car out, turning it into a business.

Police are asking the public to be vigilant and to give them a call right away. They say thieves target Hondas and Toyotas, specifically the Toyota Prius.