San Mateo Co. Sheriff's office looking for suspect in catalytic convertor theft turned robbery and assault

San Mateo County Sheriff's Department is looking to identify a man who allegedly stole a catalytic convertor, but then pivoted to robbery and assault with a deadly weapon when he realized he was being recorded, officials say. 

The incident happened Thursday in unincorporated Redwood City at round 7:30 a.m. The sheriff's office said the catalytic convertor theft happened in the Emerald Hills neighborhood. When the suspect noticed he was being recorded by a neighbor, he pointed a semi-automatic handgun at them and took their phone. Officials said the suspect then got into a dark-blue Honda Accord, a 2000s model, and then drove away. 

Officials have released images of the suspect and his vehicle. The sheriff's office said the Honda had no hubcaps and was missing the letter "H" from the Honda emblem. There was no front license plate and the numbers "55278022N°" are on the windshield. The suspect can be seen wearing bright green shoes, a plain black baseball cap, black pants and a black, long-sleeved shirt in the surveillance photos. 

SEE ALSO: East Palo Alto residents express anger, frustration about slow PG&E response to outages

If you have information about the suspect or this incident, you should contact Detective Antonio Baggetta abaggetta@smcgov.org or call the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office Anonymous tip line at 1-800-547-2700.