HUDSON, Colo. -- A Weld County man shot twice early Wednesday when he surprised a suspected gas thief at a neighbor's turkey farm was saved by a pocket tool.

Jacque Crawford, 38, told deputies he saw headlights at the turkey farm next door at about 5 a.m. He knew that the business had been hit by recent gas thefts so he went over to investigate. He walked a quarter-of a mile to the farm and spotted a man in blue jeans and a baseball cap, he said.

The man had a small-caliber handgun and fired off two rounds, Crawford said. One bullet struck Crawford in the right shoulder, said Weld County Sheriff John Cooke. A second bullet hit him in the left jacket pocket, striking a tool that deflected the round, Cooke said.

Crawford managed to walk back to his home where his 12-year-old daughter called 911. Crawford was transported to Northern Colorado Medical Center. His wounds were not life threatening, Cooke said.

Sheriff's deputies were searching the area around Weld County Roads 10 and 43 for the gunman, who ran away after the shooting. Deputies are also looking for a vehicle with horizontal tail lights.

It's not known if any fuel was stolen from the turkey farm, which is located south of Hudson, about 30 miles northeast of Denver.

Gas thefts are a problem throughout Weld County, the sheriff's office said.

"I found, just doing a quick search ... six different incidents between May 12 and now. There's probably more but this quick search provided six," said Weld County Sheriff spokesman for Shane Scofield. "Now that we know it's occurring and that it's escalating to this level, we would advise people to be really cautious when approaching situations where they think there may be some fuel-related thefts going on."

Anyone who has information about the case is asked to contact Weld County Sheriff's Office at 970-356-4015, Ext. 2825