Man dies after refusing to work for suspected catalytic converter thieves in downtown LA

A man was shot and killed when he interrupted three people trying to remove a catalytic converter from a vehicle in downtown Los Angeles early Saturday morning, police said.

The man encountered the suspects around 3:25 a.m. near Pico Boulevard and Hope Street, said Officer Jader Chaves, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Police Department. One of the suspects shot at him before all three fled in a vehicle, Chaves said.

The victim, believed to be between 30 and 35 years old, was taken to a local hospital and pronounced dead.

Further details were not immediately available.

The catalytic converter, an emissions control device typically located in the underbody of a vehicle, contains precious metals such as rhodium, palladium and platinum. Thieves can make hundreds of dollars by selling them to auto parts suppliers or junkyards, where they can be melted down and the extremely valuable metals extracted.

Catalytic converter thefts have skyrocketed in California during the COVID-19 pandemic, which some have attributed to an increase in economic hardship. The trend prompted new state laws that prohibit recyclers from purchasing the part from anyone other than the rightful owner or a licensed dealer and increase penalties for buyers who cannot prove a catalytic converter was not stolen.

Former Times editor Faith Pinho and Times writer Hannah Wiley contributed to this report.