Alleged catalytic converter thief run over, killed in California
The underside of a Toyota Prius where a catalytic converter was stolen by thieves, at Militoâs Auto Repair in Lincoln Park on Aug. 24, 2022. (Victor Hilitski/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
PALMDALE, Calif. - A man accused of trying to steal a catalytic converter in Palmdale was killed Tuesday when he was run over by the woman whose vehicle he was trying to steal from, according to authorities.
It happened just before 6 p.m. in a store parking lot located on the 39000 block of 10th Street West.
Officials said the woman was asleep inside her Ford Excursion when a car with four people inside pulled up next to it. That's when one of the grand theft suspects got out of the car and began sawing off the catalytic converter off the Excursion, Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies said.
The woman inside the Excursion was woken up by the noise, and that's when she turned on her car, put it in reverse, and "felt a bump like she ran something over," authorities said.
The woman immediately stopped the car after running the alleged thief over and called 911. He was taken to a local hospital where he died.
The three others inside the car with the alleged thief were detained by sheriff's deputies.