Ingenious Crooks

[chadtm80]

Two men were caught at noon today trying to siphon more than 500 gallons of diesel from tanks at a Mobil gasoline station, according to the Orange County Sheriff's Office.

"It was elaborate in the sense it was a very purpose-built and stealthy vehicle and trailer," said sheriff's spokesman Jim Solomons. "They obviously could steal hundreds of gallons with little or no notice."

A red Dodge pickup and trailer seized from Octavio Garcia and Jose Luis Guerra held three hidden fuel tanks with a combined capacity of more than 700 gallons. They were arrested at the station on the corner of Goldenrod and Curry Ford roads.

A trap door cut into the trailer floor permitted the pair to park in gas station parking lots over the access covers to massive fuel underground fuel tanks, deputies said. Using an electric battery-powered siphon, a man hiding in the trailer could pump 550 gallons of diesel into twin tanks without stepping outside, deputies said

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/loc ... b01_layout

[O Town]

Wow, hadn't heard about that yet. By the looks of it they took quite a bit of time to perfect the vehicle, I am sure this isn't the first time either. I wonder how many time they actually got away with it? That truck looks perfectly in place too, there are so many lawn service crews around that he fits right in. Again....wow.

[TexasStooge]

With the high rise of gas prices, today's crooks are now at "desperate times call for desperate measures" mode.

[Dionne]

Notice the containers? They come from the Georgia Gulf Corporation. They are used to haul chemicals for production of PVC. When GGC is done with them.....they just give them away. It's cheaper to give them away than properly dispose of them.

I wonder how these guys dealt with fumes and static electricity?

[Cookiely]

It would have been like a bomb going off if they had been in a major accident.

[Dionne]

There is a single vent in the lid of the trailer and a return air intake twice the volume of the exhaust. Additionally, both GGC containers were being filling simultaneously. All on a 12 volt system. The battery you see not connected is the back up. I suspect diesel was stolen rather than gasoline for two reasons. Big rig trucks and the volatile nature of gasoline versus diesel.

These guys were good. Obviously they have worked with fueling before embarking into a life of crime.

[gtalum]

It would have been like a bomb going off if they had been in a major accident.

Diesel is a lot less volatile than gasoline, and not likely to explode in a crash.

[Cookiely]

It would have been like a bomb going off if they had been in a major accident.

Diesel is a lot less volatile than gasoline, and not likely to explode in a crash.

Learn something new everyday. I didn't realize that.

[DaylilyDawn]

We had a case just like that here in Polk County recently. He had gas tanks in a trailer that he had cut a hole in the floor of. He would park over the gas tanks at convenience stores and pump the gas into the tanks unseen because he dropped boxes down around the hose to hide it. He was an older gentleman . Not that it would have mattered if a car had rear ended the trailer.