Man Beats Catalytic Converter Thief With A Metal Pipe in Dallas

A thief was in the middle of stealing a catalytic converter when he was confronted, beaten and chased away by his soon-to-be victim, security video shows.

Clay Hayner, a photographer, said it happened Thursday night outside his studio in Dallas’ Design District.

The video shows a man with what appears to be a bag of tools getting underneath Hayner’s van. Hayner said he got a notification from his Ring camera and went outside to see.

“I ran out there…I figured he’d run up the street by the time I got out there. And I look and he’s under there, and he’s got a knife. And I just kind of lost it,” he recalled. “And that’s when I started beating him.”

He’s seen such thefts before — and Thursday night’s incident was the third time he’s been targeted by catalytic converter thieves.