Catalytic converter thief caught in the act in South San Francisco

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO -- Police arrested a suspect who appears to have been caught red-handed stealing a catalytic converter in a South San Francisco Friday night.

In a post on its social media pages, South San Francisco police said last night officers responded to Aspen Ave on the report of an in-progress catalytic converter theft. 

Officers found a suspect actively stealing the device from a Honda minivan. a vehicle. He attempted to flee but was apprehended, police said. The suspect, a 40-year-old man from Oakland, was not identified.  

The department posted an image from the officers' dashcam of the suspect trying to flee, as well as the catalytic converter and cordless reciprocating saw used to steal the device.

In the post comments, the department credited a concerned citizen's call to police, and said it took 50 seconds from the time of the call to the time officers' arrived.