ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. -- Sunday night, a suspected thief was listed in critical condition at Orlando Regional Medical Center, after an alleged robbery attempt seriously injured him.

Orange County Deputies said Brian Panderodich and two friends tried to rob an auto salvage yard along East Colonial Drive in Bithlo early Sunday morning. They said Panderodich scaled a fence, while his two friends waited outside.

Investigators speculate Panderodich was sifting through a pile of tires, when a discarded air bag went off. The explosion sent the tires tumbling, injuring Panderodich and knocking him out cold.

Deputies said his two friends then ran away, leaving Panderodich unconscious in the salvage yard. Hours later, his friends called a third party, and she tipped off police. Panderodich was found just before noon Sunday and taken to the hospital.

The salvage yard owner, Brook Kitchen, told Channel 9 Eyewitness News it wasn’t the first time thieves had broken in to his seven-acre lot. He said aluminum rims were worth $20 on the black market, and air bags went for much more.

“You put a price on it, and it’s almost $3,000 worth of stuff, between the catalytic converters and aluminum,” said Kitchen.

Deputies took Panderodich’s suspected accomplices into custody. They said the men could face more charges of Panderodich failed to survive.