Two people were arrested for allegedly stealing hundreds of gallons of diesel fuel from multiple tractor trailers in California last week.
The investigation began around 3:40 a.m. on December 26 in Rocklin, California, when a Placer County Sheriff’s Deputy on patrol “noticed a U-Haul van stopped in the middle of the road, directly next to the cab of a tractor-trailer truck.”
When the deputy stopped to make contact with the van occupants, he immediately noticed a strong odor of diesel fuel coming from inside the vehicle.
The van driver, later identified as 41 year old James Gamino was “covered in diesel fuel,” according to the Placer County Sheriff’s Office.
The van passenger, 22 year old MacKenzie Covington, told the deputy that she was on probation.
The deputy conducted a search of the U-Haul and found found clothing and numerous hoses soaked in diesel fuel, in addition to a transfer pump in the cab area in addition to an additional transfer pump in the cargo area. The deputy also found a 250-gallon fuel tank that was two-thirds of the way full of diesel fuel in the cargo area of the U-Haul.
During the course of the investigation, the deputy discovered that the locking fuel cap had been removed from the truck that the U-Haul was parked next to.
The deputy called the trucking company manager, who said that four of the company’s trucks had 150 to 200 gallons of fuel stolen from them.
Gamino and Covington were taken into police custody and charged with Conspiracy and Burglary. Covington was also booked on an outstanding felony warrant out of Santa Clara County.