A woman recently ran over a man as he was allegedly sawing off the catalytic converter on her Ford Excursion in Palmdale, CA. The suspect didn’t survive the crushing from the hulking SUV.
We know a lot of people won’t feel much sympathy for catalytic converter thieves and we understand why. After all, having yours stolen can set you back a shocking sum, and with parts shortages, you might not be able to drive your vehicle for a while.
Thieves really love to hit trucks and SUVs, not only because they have huge cats and often more than one, but also because thieves can climb under and remove the cats without jacking up the vehicle. Of course, climbing under any vehicle when the owner doesn’t know you’re there comes with a bit of risk.
In this case, a report from the Los Angeles Times said, the alleged attempted theft took place at a retail area. Four people pulled into a parking lot and parked near the targeted Ford Excursion. One got out and climbed under the SUV, then started to saw off the cat. What the suspect didn’t realize was a woman was sleeping inside the Ford. The sound of him sawing through the exhaust system woke her up.
Probably in a panic because she didn’t know what was happening, the woman turned on the Excursion and backed out of the parking spot. She reportedly “felt a bump like she ran over something.” When she realized that something was a man, she called 911.
It doesn’t sound like anyone’s blaming her. This wasn’t even a case of some act of vigilantism, which we thought was the case when we first saw this story. Instead, it’s just a matter of someone getting crushed while under a vehicle when it started to move suddenly.
Abby Andrews