Four men fatally beat a man they caught trying to break into a truck on Thursday could face murder charges, police said.

Detectives were questioning the four outside a pawn shop in the 12300 block of Bellaire, near Dairy Ashford, in southwest Houston.

A Houston police officer had arrived at about 2 p.m. at EZ Pawn to investigate a possible assault when she saw two of the men holding down the suspected burglar.

"She immediately tells them to get off," said Victor Senties, an HPD spokesman.

The officer cuffed the prone man and rolled him onto his back, but he was unresponsive. Although she then called for paramedics, he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police said the four men are construction workers who apparently had spotted a man breaking into one of their pickups.

"They proceeded to beat, kick and punch the suspect and pull him away from the vehicle," Senties said. "They were still here when the officers arrived."

Senties didn't know whether the men called police when they saw their truck being burglarized.

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"It's an ongoing homicide investigation," he said.

HPD officials at the scene didn't know what company the four men worked for. The truck had no identifying information.

Detectives will be checking security cameras in the shopping center.

An autopsy for the dead man has been ordered.

mike.glenn@chron.com