WARREN, Ohio - Police are looking for a man they say was armed when he stole two catalytic converters from trucks at a Warren business early Monday.

Dispatchers got a call that someone was cutting the converters from trucks parked along the 1200 block of Youngstown Road SE at around 5:30 a.m.

Nicholas Stanko, the owner of Express Junk Removal where the converters were stolen, was awakened by notifications to his cell phone alerting him of the thief.

Stanko tells 21 News this is the second time catalytic converters had been stolen from his company trucks.

"I felt that panic, I also felt anger, confusion," Stanko said. "It also worries me that this being the second time, my insurance rates will go up. So this won't just hurt me at the front end, but it's also going to hurt me at the back end and in the long run," he said.

Stanko says that after the first time, he put security lights and cameras up, but it still didn't stop the thieves. With a couple of their trucks down, they risk losing money for the week.

"We have the potential to lose those jobs that we've had to reschedule, due to customers being upset that we couldn't get there when we said we would and then also, they might find somebody else to get there sooner," Stanko said.

Stanko's message to the thief is to get a job. He tells 21 News their trucks should be back up and running within a week. In the meantime, they have three older trucks to work with.

When officers were arriving on scene, they said an older model Ford Escape drove away with its headlights turned off.

Another officer spotted the SUV near Niles Road and tried to pull it over.

The driver refused to stop and lost sight of the SUV near Homewood Avenue SE.

Police say security video from the business showed that the suspect had a handgun in his waistband.

Two converters, valued at $900 each, were cut from two dump trucks.

The suspect is described as a heavy-set male with a beard.  The Ford Escape had aluminum rims and a black pinstripe above the door handles.