Jul 7, 2008 5:30 pm US/Eastern
Thieves Take 430 Gallons Of Diesel From Work Site
FREDERICK, Md. (WJZ) ―
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State police are investigating a theft of 430 gallons of diesel fuel from a construction site near Frederick.
A construction crew showed up to work only to find that hundreds of gallons of diesel fuel had been stolen.
Weijia Jiang reports the theft means thousands of dollars lost and lots of idle workers.
On the 20-acre Frederick construction site, the crews are in place, the equipment and machines are ready to use, but not much is happening.
That's because someone stole a 500-gallon tank of diesel over the weekend, and no fuel equals no go.
"They'll take the car or vehicle, pump the fuel out and leave the vehicle abandoned. This is the first time where a tank was actually taken," said First Sgt. Chris Sasse, Maryland State Police.
Surely it's a sign of the times. Last year you would pay $2.88 for a gallon of diesel. Expect to shell out $4.82 today.
The steel tank itself costs $2,600. It was almost full, so tack on $1,800 worth of diesel to the bill.
"It's going to be a breaking point where people don't want to pay it anymore," said one driver. "If it's just sitting there, I'm not surprised at all someone would go ahead and take it."
When you're talking about the size of a 500-gallon tank, envision a small compact car, slice off the front and the back, and you're left with the body. A person could not come and simply lift it up.
"It's more than likely a commercial vehicle of some size took this tank, dragged it onto the truck and stole it. It's significant in weight and capacity. You would need several He-Men to lift this thing," said Sasse.
He-man, Superman, whoever it was, police say he was no stranger to the site, which could easily be seen on the back roads on the shopping plaza.
A site manager says from now on there will be no tanks left on the site. Instead, workers will truck diesel in as needed.
Police have no leads in the case.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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