MARION COUNTY, Fla.,None — Some long-haul truckers found a new way to steal diesel, Marion County deputies said Wednesday. Deputies said they caught three of them using a special gadget that allowed them to pump fuel for free.
The theft is more common in South Florida than in Central Florida.
The three truckers are facing felony charges for grand theft, fraud, and illegally using a scanning device.
Hundreds of long-haul truckers fill their tanks at an I-75 Pilot gas station every day. Managers believe 99.9 percent of them are honest, but deputies said the ones caught on surveillance Tuesday were not.
"And the drivers were acting a little bit suspicious. They were interacting like they knew each other," said Jen Fisher of the Marion County Sheriff's Office.
Two South Florida drivers and one from Texas, who deputies said pried open a pump and inserted the gadget, did know each other.
"It's some kind of circuit board type that the criminals plug into our pump to try to override our system," Pilot gas station manager Steve Freant said.
Freant said it allows thieves to bypass the payment system so the truckers could pump fuel for free. Last Sunday, at 5:30 in the morning at the same station, five truckers used the device and took turns filling their tanks. They stole a total of 1,700 gallons of diesel.
The store got a tip they'd be back.
"So on a hunch, the general manager, Steve Coates, came up here on his own time. Sat there, 2:30 in the morning. Waiting for them, waiting for them. Sure enough, they pulled up like clock work," Freant said.
When the truckers used the device to steal fuel again, deputies caught them in the act.
Truckers WFTV talked to were not familiar with the gadget, but are angry it's being used.
"All it does is drive the prices up more than it is now, and give a bad name to truck drivers," truck driver Corkey Williams said.
Freant said their pumps have censors that warn the cashier when they're being tampered with, but it was a stake-out that helped catch the fuel thieves.
WFTV
