FORT WORTH, Texas — A father was shot Friday afternoon in Fort Worth when he and his son were following a suspected catalytic converter thief, police said. The suspect was later arrested.
Officers responded to a shooting call about 1:11 p.m. to the 2400 block of Shelby Road.
A father and a son saw a male trying to steal their catalytic converter off their vehicle, police said. The suspect fled in a white Dodge truck and the two followed him to get a license plate or other identifiers, police said.
When confronted, the father was shot in the upper part of his body, police said. The father was transported to a hospital and is expected to be OK.
The father and son got the license plate number of the suspect vehicle and officers went to an address in Joshua.
The suspect was taken into custody. His identity has not been released.
Catalytic converter thefts in North Texas
Catalytic converter thefts have been on the rise in North Texas.
There have been 800 catalytic converter theft calls this year alone, with 300 thefts in the last two months, Dallas police said earlier this week.
On Facebook, Irving police released a video of a catalytic converter theft where the suspect slides under the truck and cuts off the piece of metal within 60 seconds.
Police say you should be aware of the sound of a saw being used to cut off a catalytic converter -- and to call police if you hear that.
What are some of the warning signs police say to look for? If you're at a busy grocery store and you notice a car hood just popped up, that right there could be a red flag that someone is trying to steal a catalytic converter.
Police say you can even buy an engraving tool, or go to a mechanic shop to get it engraved. That helps protect the catalytic converter from being sold once again.