Officers were dispatched just after midnight Thursday to Thousand Oaks Court after a man called to report that it looked like there was a group of men trying to steal a catalytic converter from his pickup truck.
After making the call, the man went outside to confront the suspects, who were in a grey Charger. As he approached them, one man came from underneath his truck and shot him in the chest, police say.
The suspects left the scene.
The man was transported to a local area hospital, where he is expected to survive.
The man told police there have been similar catalytic converter thefts recently in the area.
According to International Association of Auto Theft Investigators, on the black market, a catalytic converter can be worth as much as $1,600. The catalytic converter is part of a system that cleans out pollutants and prevents them from entering the atmosphere. When sold to a scrap yard, thieves can make money off the part and claim precious metal inside like platinum.
Police are searching for the suspects and the grey Charger.
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