OAKLAND PARK, Fla. – Four men were arrested this week in connection with a large-scale gasoline theft operation, the Broward Sheriff’s Office announced Friday.
Recommended Videos
According to BSO spokeswoman Miranda Grossman, the suspects were taken into custody Tuesday after they were caught in the act at a Wawa gas station in Oakland Park.
The suspects were identified as Noel Gonzalez Gonzalez, 34, of Miami; Eusebio Noel Gonzalez Claro, 63, of Miami; Orlando Diaz Cordero, 42, of Tampa; and Blas Junior Duran, 36, of Homestead.
As of Friday afternoon, only Gonzalez Gonzalez was appearing in the online jail database.
According to Grossman, the suspects were apprehended by members of BSO’s Burglary Apprehension Team (B.A.T.) and the Pembroke Pines Police Department.
“According to detectives, the group siphoned large amounts of diesel gasoline from gas stations across Broward County,” Grossman said in a news release.
She said detectives were notified Tuesday that the group was at the Wawa gas station, located at 1675 West Oakland Park Blvd. in Oakland Park.
“While on scene, detectives observed a Honda Odyssey that was parked directly above an underground fuel cap and was actively siphoning fuel through a hose,” Grossman said. “Two additional vehicles, a Ford Expedition and a Ford Transit van, acted as feeder vehicles for the stolen fuel. A short time later, the Honda Odyssey and the Ford Expedition traveled to the Chevron gas station at 3099 West Oakland Park Blvd. That is where detectives conducted a felony stop and took Blas Duran, Eusebio Claro and Noel Gonzalez into custody. Orlando Diaz was taken into custody in the Ford Transit near the Wawa gas station.”
According to Grossman, all of the vehicles had been retrofitted with “enormous tanks, many of which were filled with fuel.”
She said the suspects had extracted fuel from the underground tank and pumped it into the Odyssey.
She said the group then offloaded the fuel into 1,000 gallon fuel tanks inside the Ford Transit van, as one of the suspects in the Expedition acted as a lookout.
According to Grossman, the suspects face multiple charges, including retail fuel theft, unlawful conveyance of fuel and grand theft.
As of Friday afternoon, Gonzalez Gonzalez remained held at the Broward Main Jail due to an immigration hold.