TACOMA, Washington — A man shot and killed someone he caught trying to steal a catalytic converter from his truck in Lakewood, then dragged his body behind the truck to a field and dumped it, police said.
The 54-year-old man was sleeping in his truck Saturday when he woke up about 3:45 a.m. because of loud noises and his truck vibrating. When he looked out, he saw a man halfway beneath his truck apparently trying to steal the catalytic converter. “He shoots him,” Lt. Chris Lawler said.
The would-be thief tried to get in his own vehicle to leave but was unable to do so because of the gunshot wound.
“The suspect approaches him again and fires at him again,” Lawler said.
The man then used rope to tie the would-be thief to the ball hitch of his truck and dragged him to a nearby field behind some railroad tracks. He untied the body and left, police said.
Here's the rest of the story, and the part that frankly is the real problem in this country.
Originally Posted by Newspaper
A truck driver saw him dragging the body behind his truck and called 911.
Officers responded to the field and found the 40-year-old victim dead. He has not been publicly identified.
As police were interviewing the truck driver about what he saw, the alleged shooter drove by and was stopped by police.
He was booked into Pierce County Jail on suspicion of second-degree murder and is expected to be arraigned this afternoon.
The thief was the "victim"!? In another related article, apparently he has been at it for quite some time costing folks tens of thousands of dollars in property damage.
Victim my ass. Its called, man defends property. If you want to charge him with something, how about, illegal dumping of trash.
Fugg that thief. World's now a better place.
Last edited by J23; 09/26/21.
"Ignorance is acceptable, because you can remedy it with knowledge and research. Stupidity is when you guard your ignorance." Ted Nugent
"Idolizing a politician is like believing the stripper really likes you."
It would be interesting if one heard the sound of s Sawzall and just slowly let the jack down that was holding the vehicle up. High enough for survival, low enough to pin them in place.
10 or 15 minutes ought to be enough time get their attention.
Some spelling errors can be corrected by a vowel movement. ~ MOLON LABE ~
1. Typical overblown campfire fantasy hype about “thousands”
Don't know what the thieves get for them, but the cost to replace may be what folks are referring to as "thousands".
For my F250 diesel I just checked rockauto.com since they typically have good prices and inventory ... they showed three different cats for it but were "Out of Stock" for all three (gee, wonder why?). Then I checked an online Ford Dealer which offers significant discounts to MSRP (autonationfordwhitebearlake.com). They show MSRP to be $2257.62 and their discounted price is $1557.76.
Most Ford dealers here will charge full MSRP but well in excess of a thousand either way. When my FICM started to go, the stealership prices were well north of $500, but I picked it up for a little over $100 from an International truck dealer.
We really don't need any more laws to restrict tools or objects We need to deal with lawbreakers and imprison them or execute them if needed, or we need to back away when a homeowner or property owner tries to defend their lives or their belongings The owner of a vehicle doesn't deserve to have some POS damage their property whether it's insured or repairable or not. Leave stuff alone if it doesn't belong to you.
Good people or people that have "lost their way " don't commit crimes. Let's stop making excuses for people breaking the law and condemning those trying to protect what's theirs
We really don't need any more laws to restrict tools or objects We need to deal with lawbreakers and imprison them or execute them if needed, or we need to back away when a homeowner or property owner tries to defend their lives or their belongings The owner of a vehicle doesn't deserve to have some POS damage their property whether it's insured or repairable or not. Leave stuff alone if it doesn't belong to you.
Good people or people that have "lost their way " don't commit crimes. Let's stop making excuses for people breaking the law and condemning those trying to protect what's theirs
Yep.
"Allways speak the truth and you will never have to remember what you said before..." Sam Houston Texans, "We say Grace, We Say Mam, If You Don't Like it, We Don't Give a Damn!"
I have given or loaned my 2006 Honda Element to my daughter who lives in Seattle. She walks to work, but needs a car on the week end. She lives in a high rise condo and parks on the street.
The converter was stolen a week ago. Her boyfriend had the car towed to the Bellevue Honda dealer. They gave a high estimate.
The insurance company sent a low check, $2.5k.
I called Bellevue Honda. They said $2.5k is ok....... but they have (9) Honda Elements on the lot now waiting for ordered converters. I asked the dealer if the new converter would get stolen as soon as my daughter parked it again. The dealer said, "Yes, it will probably get stolen again as soon as you park it in Seattle."
I called my daughter and told her of the risks for a new converter. She said catalytic converter guards are $400, but she found one on Ebay for $300.
A catalytic converter chastity belt?
You need to shop around. The most expensive catalytic convertor Rock Auto sells for a 2006 Honda Element is a little over $900.
Had to buy a new pickup June 25th, someone broke in the company lot and stole the cats off my 2006 Silverado with 265,000 miles. Paid off. Was getting due for replacement.
Many catalytic converter thieves tend to operate in an organized fashion and 'specialize' in certain types of vehicles and where parked, and when the 'heat' starts getting too intense they back off for a while or else leave the area and start up elsewhere.
Around here they seem to much prefer stealing from business vehicles rather than private, especially box trucks. A little while back the box trucks belonging to Habitat for Humanity in a nearby town, which is located in an area with no private residences nearby, low traffic at night and minimal street lighting, had the catalytic converters stolen off them back-to-back times.
They're bigger and therefore more valuable, I suppose. Then there's the added bonus of business vehicles tending to fleets parked in one place.
A few months back they got 5 from the city box trucks at our Denver facility (one of those strip-warehouse deals with dozens of businesses and no fence). They park the trucks inside the warehouse now.
I live in a pretty rural area, school gets most of the tax dollars, but the buses are still pretty old. That and the fact they are diesel. They have a set of mufflers, no cats. The junkies did manage to steal several though. I guess they stopped because they were worthless. I'm sure they thought they had hit the mother lode, those mufflers are huge.
Our box truck has had the batteries and cats stolen when parked outside our warehouse. Batteries are relatively cheap. Cat for the Isuzu diesel, not so much.
Hoping the aforementioned dead fella from the article was the perp. Same area and all. Good riddance.
“Life is life and fun is fun, but it's all so quiet when the goldfish die.”
1. Typical overblown campfire fantasy hype about “thousands”
Don't know what the thieves get for them, but the cost to replace may be what folks are referring to as "thousands".
For my F250 diesel I just checked rockauto.com since they typically have good prices and inventory ... they showed three different cats for it but were "Out of Stock" for all three (gee, wonder why?). Then I checked an online Ford Dealer which offers significant discounts to MSRP (autonationfordwhitebearlake.com). They show MSRP to be $2257.62 and their discounted price is $1557.76.
Most Ford dealers here will charge full MSRP but well in excess of a thousand either way. When my FICM started to go, the stealership prices were well north of $500, but I picked it up for a little over $100 from an International truck dealer.
That's a neat trick, putting a catalytic converter on a diesel truck...... hope it works out for you.
had a azz try to steal one off my tundra a few years back, my belgian malinois pulled his azz out from under the truck and tore his azz up, held him with a choke grip to the state police came
Same thing happened to my Denver son, and he lives in a decent neighborhood.(that's relative IMO - no city is "decent" to live in)). Itt takes just a couple minutes to take those things off - one would think they would be manufactured to be more secure without an additional chastity belt.
They were gone for the weekend.... insurance priced theirs (Honda or Kia?) at 2500 minus their $250 deductible.
It used to be platinum in them, but I'm not sure about that now. I read someplace (Dogs of War?), there is or may be a replacement for platinum since initially made.
And "scrap" isn't what these things are being sold as, after being stolen, I bet. Why pay $2500 for a new one, when you can get a stolen one for less than half that on eBay or Craigslist? Or sell it to an unethical repair shop, who then installs it as a new one. Who is to know?
I was wrong apparently. Surprise!
From Wikipedia:
The catalyst itself is most often a mix of precious metals, mostly from the platinum group. Platinum is the most active catalyst and is widely used, but is not suitable for all applications because of unwanted additional reactions and high cost. Palladium and rhodium are two other precious metals used. Rhodium is used as a reduction catalyst, palladium is used as an oxidation catalyst, and platinum is used both for reduction and oxidation. Cerium, iron, manganese, and nickel are also used, although each has limitations. Nickel is not legal for use in the European Union because of its reaction with carbon monoxide into toxic nickel tetracarbonyl.[citation needed] Copper can be used everywhere except Japan.[clarification needed] Upon failure, a catalytic converter can be recycled into scrap. The precious metals inside the converter, including platinum, palladium, and rhodium, are extracted.
