(Too funny)
http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20131005/NEWS/310050334
(copy)
Fried by the police
By [COLOR=#333333 !important]Andrew Scott
Pocono Record Writer
October 05, 2013
[/COLOR]
Four men have been charged with stealing gallons of used cooking oil from Stroud Township restaurants to either use as alternative fuel for their own vehicles or sell to others looking to do the same.
Edwin Valerio, 30, and Mario Garcia, 44, both of Yonkers, N.Y., are charged with stealing used cooking oil Aug. 30 from Studebaker's on Route 611.
After a hearing Friday, Stroud Township Magisterial District Judge C. Daniel Higgins found sufficient evidence to send Valerio's case to Monroe County Court.
The hearing for Garcia, who speaks only Spanish, was continued to a future date since he needs an interpreter present.
Bismark Duarte, 27, and Julian Rodriguez, 25, both of the Bronx, N.Y., are charged with stealing from Popeye's on Route 611 on Sept. 6. Both pleaded guilty Friday and face fines.
Restaurants have agreements with contractors, who supply containers into which the restaurants dump hundreds of gallons of used cooking oil, said Dave Dunham, owner of a Wind Gap business contracting with Studebaker's.
The containers are secured with lids padlocked over grates to prevent someone from pumping out the oil.
Contractors pay restaurants by the gallon of oil, then sell it to companies that recycle it into biofuel or diesel or industrial fuel, Dunham said.
His containers are typically 100 to 300 gallons.
Thousands of dollars lost
"We can only pay restaurants for the oil we find in the containers when we come to collect," Dunham said.
"So, if a restaurant dumps 200 gallons into a container and someone steals 170 of those gallons, we can only pay the restaurant for the 30 gallons left. The restaurant loses out and we lose out by thousands of dollars on what we can sell the recycling companies."
Dunham has a 300-gallon container at Studebaker's and estimates the thefts there cost his business more than $20,000 a month during a three-month period.
Studebaker's owner Jon Syrocki said thefts of used cooking oil had been going on there for a couple of years.
"The biggest problem is when these thieves spill oil everywhere and leave a mess," Syrocki said. "They don't care."
Covered in oil
Stroud Area Regional Police gave the following account in the Studebaker's case:
SARP Officer John Egan was on patrol at 3:30 a.m. Aug. 30 when he spotted a dark-colored cargo van, occupied by a driver and passenger later identified as Valerio and Garcia respectively, exit the Studebaker's parking lot and head south on Route 611.
Egan followed the van into Stroudsburg, where he saw it head toward Interstate 80.
Egan then returned to Studebaker's, where he saw someone had removed the padlock on the used-oil container lid.
Since the container was nearly empty, it appeared as though someone had inserted a small-diameter hose between the grate bars, connected the hose to a pump and pumped out the oil.
Egan saw a fresh trail of oil on the ground, leading away from the container, indicating some of the oil had been spilled as it was being pumped out.
In the oil on the ground were shoe prints that later would be matched to the soles of the shoes Valerio and Garcia were found wearing when stopped.
SARP Officer John Miller later stopped a van, with the same license plate and matching the description of the one Egan had seen, on Business Route 209, near Shafers Schoolhouse Road.
Egan arrived and spoke with Valerio and Garcia and noticed grease all over both them and the van's interior.
Valerio told police he was trying to find a friend's house, that he and Garcia did construction work and that he collected and sold oil.
When Valerio consented to a vehicle search, police found a gas-powered pump attached to the tanks, several hoses of various diameters, a broken padlock and an oil-covered flashlight.
Valerio denied having been at Studebaker's earlier or collecting any oil recently, though police found the pump hot to the touch and a hose with a diameter small enough to have fit through the Studebaker's container grate.
Based on the evidence, police charged Valerio and Garcia. Valerio's attorney, Fred Cutaio, called the evidence purely circumstantial at Friday's hearing, but Higgins found it sufficient to send the case to county court.
http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20131005/NEWS/310050334
(copy)
Fried by the police
By [COLOR=#333333 !important]Andrew Scott
Pocono Record Writer
October 05, 2013
[/COLOR]
Four men have been charged with stealing gallons of used cooking oil from Stroud Township restaurants to either use as alternative fuel for their own vehicles or sell to others looking to do the same.
Edwin Valerio, 30, and Mario Garcia, 44, both of Yonkers, N.Y., are charged with stealing used cooking oil Aug. 30 from Studebaker's on Route 611.
After a hearing Friday, Stroud Township Magisterial District Judge C. Daniel Higgins found sufficient evidence to send Valerio's case to Monroe County Court.
The hearing for Garcia, who speaks only Spanish, was continued to a future date since he needs an interpreter present.
Bismark Duarte, 27, and Julian Rodriguez, 25, both of the Bronx, N.Y., are charged with stealing from Popeye's on Route 611 on Sept. 6. Both pleaded guilty Friday and face fines.
Restaurants have agreements with contractors, who supply containers into which the restaurants dump hundreds of gallons of used cooking oil, said Dave Dunham, owner of a Wind Gap business contracting with Studebaker's.
The containers are secured with lids padlocked over grates to prevent someone from pumping out the oil.
Contractors pay restaurants by the gallon of oil, then sell it to companies that recycle it into biofuel or diesel or industrial fuel, Dunham said.
His containers are typically 100 to 300 gallons.
Thousands of dollars lost
"We can only pay restaurants for the oil we find in the containers when we come to collect," Dunham said.
"So, if a restaurant dumps 200 gallons into a container and someone steals 170 of those gallons, we can only pay the restaurant for the 30 gallons left. The restaurant loses out and we lose out by thousands of dollars on what we can sell the recycling companies."
Dunham has a 300-gallon container at Studebaker's and estimates the thefts there cost his business more than $20,000 a month during a three-month period.
Studebaker's owner Jon Syrocki said thefts of used cooking oil had been going on there for a couple of years.
"The biggest problem is when these thieves spill oil everywhere and leave a mess," Syrocki said. "They don't care."
Covered in oil
Stroud Area Regional Police gave the following account in the Studebaker's case:
SARP Officer John Egan was on patrol at 3:30 a.m. Aug. 30 when he spotted a dark-colored cargo van, occupied by a driver and passenger later identified as Valerio and Garcia respectively, exit the Studebaker's parking lot and head south on Route 611.
Egan followed the van into Stroudsburg, where he saw it head toward Interstate 80.
Egan then returned to Studebaker's, where he saw someone had removed the padlock on the used-oil container lid.
Since the container was nearly empty, it appeared as though someone had inserted a small-diameter hose between the grate bars, connected the hose to a pump and pumped out the oil.
Egan saw a fresh trail of oil on the ground, leading away from the container, indicating some of the oil had been spilled as it was being pumped out.
In the oil on the ground were shoe prints that later would be matched to the soles of the shoes Valerio and Garcia were found wearing when stopped.
SARP Officer John Miller later stopped a van, with the same license plate and matching the description of the one Egan had seen, on Business Route 209, near Shafers Schoolhouse Road.
Egan arrived and spoke with Valerio and Garcia and noticed grease all over both them and the van's interior.
Valerio told police he was trying to find a friend's house, that he and Garcia did construction work and that he collected and sold oil.
When Valerio consented to a vehicle search, police found a gas-powered pump attached to the tanks, several hoses of various diameters, a broken padlock and an oil-covered flashlight.
Valerio denied having been at Studebaker's earlier or collecting any oil recently, though police found the pump hot to the touch and a hose with a diameter small enough to have fit through the Studebaker's container grate.
Based on the evidence, police charged Valerio and Garcia. Valerio's attorney, Fred Cutaio, called the evidence purely circumstantial at Friday's hearing, but Higgins found it sufficient to send the case to county court.
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