The owner of a Savannah-area car dealership was stunned when he went to work Tuesday morning and found a body crushed underneath a car.
Mike Abouharb owns South Bound Auto Sales in Chatham County.
As far as he could tell, the person who was killed was trying to steal the car’s catalytic converter when the car collapsed on the man, he told WTOC-TV.
“I called the police right away,” he told the TV station. “Is it worth it? To steal a catalytic converter to sell for $100? To lose your life? It’s not.”
Abouharb said he first realized something wasn’t right when he saw a jack on the ground, knowing he had left it somewhere else the night before.
As he got closer, Abouharb told WJCL-TV that he saw the body under the car and called 911.
“At this time, the death appears to be accidental, and no foul play is suspected in regard to the cause of death,” Chatham County police told WJCL.
Catalytic convert thefts have been on the rise throughout Georgia over the last couple of years. Thieves will cut them off vehicles and take them to scrap yards to get money for the precious metals inside.
Abouharb told WTOC that he had a message for thieves: “Get a job. Do something and stop stealing. We work very hard for what we get.”
Police said they are not releasing the man’s identity until they are able to notify his next of kin.
Abouharb told WJCL that crimes like this are just not worth it.
“A human life got destroyed for a stupid thing. To lose a life like that for $80. There’s not enough money to make it worth a life,” he said.