Catalytic converter theft suspect hit and killed in Palmdale

Authorities said a man who tried to steal a catalytic converter from a parked SUV in Southern California was hit and killed when the car’s sleeping driver woke up and began to drive away.

The death occurred Tuesday evening in a Palmdale retail parking lot, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement.

When police arrived, they found a Ford Excursion partially reversed out of a parking space, a man lying on the ground, and a smaller car in a nearby parking space.

The department said the driver of the Excursion was asleep when a smaller car pulled up and one of the four people inside got out and started sawing off the Ford catalytic converter.

“The victim woke up from the sound, started the car, turned on the reverse gear and felt a blow, as if she had run over something,” the department said. “She stopped immediately, leaving the suspect lying on the ground after being hit.”

The driver then called 911 to provide medical assistance to the suspect.

The suspect died in the hospital. The remaining three people in a smaller vehicle were detained. Names are not disclosed.

Palmdale is in the high desert Antelope Valley north of Los Angeles.