CASTRO VALLEY — A resident was shot Wednesday morning when he confronted thieves trying to steal his vehicle’s catalytic converter, authorities said.
The suspects were pursued by law enforcement officers to Walnut Creek, where they abandoned their vehicle and were able to elude capture.
The shooting happened about 3:50 a.m. Wednesday in the 4500 block of Sargent Avenue. A resident was found with two gunshot wounds to his leg.
Responding deputies applied a tourniquet to the man’s leg before he was taken to a hospital. He was expected to recover from his injuries.
Sheriff’s Lt. Ray Kelly said the man was shot after confronting four suspects attempting to steal a catalytic converter from his vehicle. A sheriff’s patrol vehicle later spotted the suspects’ vehicle on Interstate 580 at 150th Avenue headed toward Oakland, Kelly said.
The deputy trailed the vehicle onto eastbound Highway 24, where California Highway Patrol officers joined the pursuit. A vehicle stop was attempted on the highway but the suspects kept driving.
The pursuit terminated at the Interstate 680 split in Walnut Creek, when officers could not determine which way the suspects’ vehicle went.
The CHP was later notified of a solo vehicle crash at the intersection of Treat Boulevard and Buskirk Avenue, where four suspects ran from the vehicle and were able to elude capture.
Deputies took possession of the vehicle and found the trunk to be filled with cut catalytic converters, Kelly said. The vehicle was towed as evidence.
The shooting is the third since last week involving catalytic converter thieves. An Oakland man was fatally shot last Tuesday in the city’s Glenview district and a Berkeley resident was shot at but missed by suspects on Thursday.
Source: www.mercurynews.com