The price of gas is always fluctuating, but it seems like the pain of paying for a tank never goes away. A California teenager apparently found a simple solution to that problem, however, according to a report from the San Diego County Sheriff's Office: The 19-year-old suspect was arrested for stealing more than $40,000 worth of fuel from a Chevron station,
The suspect was arrested on December 2, but according to the sheriff's department, this was not a one-and-done kind of heist. The teen, reportedly, had been making off with loads of gasoline over and over again for months.
"Employees told deputies the suspect was believed to have been visiting the gas station at least twice a week since June 2024, stealing an estimated $2,000 worth of gasoline each time," the statement reads. "He was able to manipulate the gas pumps using a credit card, which would indicate to the fuel system the pump was in use. However, the transactions were never charged."
Authorities were first notified about the thief on November 26, but didn't apprehend the suspect until early December, while responding to reports of a suspicious person at a Chevron. Deputies said the suspect matched the description of the previously reported thief, and their suspensions were quickly validated when they found numerous large plastic containers including drum barrels and fuel canisters inside his GMC Yukon, many of which were full of gasoline at the time of his arrest.
Police estimate that the suspect had been stealing gas from the same Chevron since June, and had made off with a total value of around $42,000 worth of gasoline in that time. The suspect was arrested under the suspicion of grand theft and booked into the San Diego Central Jail. Inmate records for San Diego County confirm that the 19-year-old is no longer in custody as of this story's publication.
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