Los Angeles-area homeowner fatally stabs alleged catalytic converter thief in driveway

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Connecticut man fights off 4 men in attempted carjacking before suspects flee

Police in Rocky Hill, Connecticut are searching for multiple suspects in an attempted carjacking April 10 where a man intervened. (Rocky Hill PD/LOCAL NEWS X /TMX)

A Los Angeles-area homeowner fatally stabbed a suspected thief trying to steal a catalytic converter Friday morning. 

The killing occurred in South El Monte, California, just before 3 a.m. at a home in the 11200 block of Thienes Avenue, FOX 11 Los Angeles reported. 

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The homeowner told Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies he was sleeping when he heard a group of men talking in his driveway. He grabbed a kitchen knife and confronted four people allegedly stealing a catalytic converter from his vehicle parked in the driveway.

Thefts of catalytic converters are surging across the nation as thieves seek out precious metals like platinum, palladium and rhodium that fill the inside of the antipollution car part. A suspected thief was fatally stabbed Friday while allegedly trying to steal the car part.   (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

At some point, one of the suspects was stabbed by the homeowner. The other suspects fled the scene in a compact vehicle, authorities said. 

Thefts of catalytic converters have swept American cities in recent years. A report from CarFax estimates that 153,000 of the emissions control devices were stolen in 2022, based on repair records.

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Many thieves target the vehicle part because of the valuable metals used in their construction, including platinum, palladium and rhodium.