Man crushed to death while trying to steal catalytic converter, GA car salesman says
A would-be thief was trying to steal a catalytic converter when the car he was under collapsed and killed him, a Georgia car salesman told multiple news outlets.
Mike Abouharb, owner of South Bound Auto Sales in Savannah, said he made the grim discovery when he went into work Tuesday, March 7, WTOC reported.
“Is it worth it?” he told the news station. “To steal a catalytic converter to sell for $100. To lose your life? It’s not.”
Officers arrived at the business around 9 a.m. after the man’s body was found, according to Chatham County police. Authorities said the death appeared to be “accidental” and that foul play wasn’t suspected.
Abouharb said he knew something was wrong when he found a car jack on the ground — not up front where he left it the night before, according to WJCL.
He said he believes the would-be thief jacked up the vehicle in hopes of swiping the catalytic converter, but didn’t secure it the right way, the station reported. The business owner said he called 911 after finding the man’s body pinned under the car.
Authorities on March 8 said 32-year-old Matthew Eric Smith was the man killed in the accident.
A man died in a similar incident in February after a Los Angeles woman was roused by sounds coming from underneath her SUV, McClatchy News reported. She put the vehicle in reverse then “felt a bump,” later realizing she had backed over a man accused of trying to steal her catalytic converter as she slept.
Thefts of the devices, which contain precious metals such as platinum and palladium, have surged in recent years, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau.
More than 14,400 catalytic converters were reported stolen in 2020, a sizable jump from about 1,300 in 2018, data shows.
“As the value of the precious metals remains high, so do the number of thefts of these devices,” the bureau reported.
Georgia authorities said the incident remains under investigation.
Savannah is about 250 miles southeast of Atlanta.
This story was originally published March 8, 2023 at 10:56 AM with the headline "Man crushed to death while trying to steal catalytic converter, GA car salesman says."