“I won’t always be there to snipe the bad guys,” the vigilante wrote.
Note: Featured photo is from a different theft from Stockton and is used only for illustrative purposes (video linked here.)
A San Francisco resident who goes by @Ishy_5 on Twitter still has his catalytic converter all thanks to a neighbor and self-deputized vigilante. @Ishy_5 walked up to his car to find a note from his neighbor informing him he single-handedly stopped a catalytic converter thief from sawing off his cat by shooting them with a BB gun.
Check out a photo of his note he shared on Twitter below.
SF is the wild wild west man pic.twitter.com/HGEHaFdqGj
— Ish (@Ishy_5) August 2, 2022
This vigilante’s good Samaritan act really resonated with Twitter users, @Ishy_5’s tweet going absolutely viral with, as of this writing, over 26,000 RTs and 330,000+ likes.
Ishy replied to a handful of comments, this one below probably being his best one.
Saved my converter tho ????
— Ish (@Ishy_5) August 2, 2022
“I had mine saved TWICE by neighbors ???? we in this together!,” @Psychogenic_oni commented on @ItsTheBay’s repost on Instagram.
“Neighbor been waiting for this moment his whole a** life,” @CaliAl humorously pointed out on the same post. “Lil shawty sharpshoota.”
Details are few and far between as, hinted by the note, the neighbor wishes to remain anonymous.
Staying anonymous is probably a good idea as, not to throw a wet blanket on his good deed, shooting someone with a BB gun, according to a previous appellate court decision, is “considered assault with a deadly weapon in violation of Penal Code section 245, subdivision (a), paragraph (1), which is a felony.”
It’s probably a fact of BB gun/Air gun ownership the vigilante wasn’t even aware of.
This latest vigilante news comes on the heels of California legislatures empowering CHP’s Taskforce to assist with Catalytic Converter Theft Investigations.
Just this week alone, Fremont police announced they’re investigating a major recycling center in Fremont for buying stolen catalytic converters by the hundreds reporting that, in the months following the sting, there was a quantifiable and noticeable drop in converter theft.
Despite this good news, catalytic converter theft remains a big problem in California and elsewhere across the United States.
I tip my hat to you, anonymous vigilante, as we can all take a page from his book, to be aware of our surroundings and to take (legal) action if and when we see wrongdoings happening right in front of you.
