Sen. Chuck Schumer is calling on the Department of Justice to send a special response team to Long Island to help crack down on catalytic converter thefts.

The newly released numbers show that there were 69 catalytic converters reported stolen in Nassau County and 49 reported stolen in Suffolk County just this month.

From 2021 to 2022, there was a 385.6% increase in reported catalytic converted thefts in Nassau and a 460.9% increase in Suffolk.

"The federal government, at my request, I believe will cooperate with the Nassau Police Department to go after these guys because a lot of them are rings," Schumer said.

Schumer also says that more federal resources are needed to crack down on the crime rings.

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman says the combination of federal and local works well because the feds can see what is going on out of the state and local police know what is happening on the ground.

Police say thieves are stealing catalytic converters for high-value metals that are found inside of them.

New Hyde Park resident Matthew Gitto says he was on his way to an Islanders game when he turned on his car and soon realized he was a victim of a catalytic converter theft. It cost him over $2,000 to fix.

"That's a lot of money, I would imagine a lot for anybody, but I took a big hit," Gitto says.

Schumer says that catalytic converter thefts are up nationally, but they are especially bad on Long Island.