A man died Monday after he was run over by a car he was trying to steal a catalytic converter from in Sacramento, California, authorities said.

Officers responded around 4:45 a.m. to reports of a collision between a vehicle and a pedestrian in the 8100 block of Timberlake Way, Sacramento police told Fox News Digital via email.

Investigators said they believe the suspect was tampering with the vehicle to steal its catalytic converter before the collision.

Catalytic converters are part of a vehicle’s exhaust system and control emissions. It contains valuable metals that criminals can cut out in seconds and sell to scrapyards for profit. Replacing a stolen catalytic converter could cost hundreds, if not thousands of dollars.