Fort Worth

Man Shot After Catalytic Converter Theft in Fort Worth: Police

The person suspected of the theft and of shooting the man was taken into custody without incident, police said

NBC 5 News

A man was shot when he found somebody trying to steal the catalytic converter off of his vehicle Friday, Fort Worth police said.

At approximately 1:31 a.m., officers responded to a shooting call at 2400 Shelby Road, police said.

According to police, a father and his son walked out and found another man attempting to steal the catalytic converter off their vehicle.

That man fled, and when the father and son followed him and managed to get the license plate of the man's vehicle, the father was shot in the upper part of his body, police said.

He was transported to a local hospital with a non-life-threatening injury.

Using the obtained license plate, officers went to an address in Joshua, where the man suspected of theft was taken into custody without further incident.

Catalytic converters are part of the car's exhaust system.

They help remove harmful emissions but contain three rare earth metals that are soaring in value: Platinum, Palladium and Rhodium.

Rises in costs of palladium and rhodium have led to a recent spike in thefts of catalytic converters.

In June, Gov. Greg Abbott signed House Bill 1440, which would require anybody selling a catalytic converter to provide proof of where the metal came from as part of metal recycling regulation.

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