Homeowner Catches Thief Trying To Steal Catalytic Converter, Stabs Him To Death

Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies said a homeowner had enough of the out-of-control crime and decided to do something about it. Around 2:30 a.m. at a home in the 11200 block of Thienes Avenue in South El Monte, the homeowner heard a group of men talking in his driveway.

He was sleeping but the loud voices woke him up. He got out of bed, went into his kitchen, grabbed a knife, and went to check it out. “While the resident was sleeping, he heard several people in the driveway,” Lt. Michael Gomez of the LASD said. “It sounded like suspects were trying to steal possibly his catalytic converter, at which point he came out of the house and confronted the suspect.”

He found a group of four men in the process of stealing a catalytic converter from his vehicle parked in the driveway. Deputies say he stabbed one of them, a 45- to 50-year-old man who was under the car doing the deed, causing the others to flee in a small car. The thief he stabbed was pronounced dead on the scene.

According to The New York Post:

Catalytic converter thefts have skyrocketed nationwide. At least one other catalytic converter thieve has been killed while committing the crime.

In February, a woman in Los Angeles accidentally ran over and killed a man police said had been trying to steal her catalytic converter.

The woman, who was sleeping in her car at the time, was startled awake by a group of four thieves, started the car and ran over one of them.

According to NBC:

Gomez said deputies found mechanical tools, such as a hack saw, that suggest an attempted catalytic theft was underway in the driveway. 

The dead man, described to be a man between 35 and 45 years old, was underneath the vehicle at the time, according to Gomez.

Investigators planned to interview the resident, who used a kitchen knife to stab the man.

The LASD investigator added the deceased man was with two to three other accomplices during the attempted theft. 

They were last seen fleeing the scene, heading eastbound on Thienes Avenue in an older Honda Accord model.

 

California homeowner fatally stabs man trying to steal catalytic converter in driveway https://t.co/idgh1QxQFh pic.twitter.com/Ub2PWAs5tL

— New York Post (@nypost) April 22, 2023

 

Homicide investigation in S. El Monte underway. LASD says a homeowner confronted 3-4 people believed to have been trying to steal his catalytic converter. An altercation unfolded and deputies say the homeowner stabbed one of the men, who later died. Suspects are on the run @NBCLA pic.twitter.com/3rUhJqkHpR

— Lauren Coronado (@LaurenmCoronado) April 21, 2023

A man suspected of trying to steal a catalytic converter was fatally stabbed in a city in Los Angeles, according to authorities. https://t.co/O9qQeBDeIJ

— NBC 7 San Diego (@nbcsandiego) April 22, 2023