Gas Theft Ring Steals Over $60K Worth Of Fuel At Circle K Stores: Cops

HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, FL — A gas theft ring likely stole more than $60,000 worth of fuel from a Ruskin Circle K and an Apollo Beach Circle K, Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister told reporters at a press conference Monday morning.

Six suspects were arrested Wednesday on charges of racketeering, conspiracy to commit racketeering, grand theft, and accessing electronics without authority, a Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office news release said. Those arrested are: Luis Alcade-Hernandez, Albert Aleman-Gonzalez, Nestor Flores-Rodriguez, Javier Penate-Berbe, Jesus Andres Perez-Cueto and Danys Vazquez-Sosa were arrested.

A seventh suspect, William Penate-Arencibia, 45, is at-large and deputies said he might have returned to Cuba. Five of the suspects live in Hillsborough County and two live in Orlando.

Operation Empty Tank began on Feb. 25 following the discovery of $25,000 in fuel shortages at Circle K, 3702 U.S. Highway 41, Ruskin, and at Circle K, 5004 U.S. Highway 41, Apollo Beach. Surveillance cameras at both stores showed a group of the same seven trucks continually cycling through a single gas pump for 12 hours at each store for seven consecutive days, deputies said.

Detectives found out the suspects were breaking into the gas pump panels, and installing homemade devices made of a woodblock, a steering rod, a battery and an electrical board that disabled the pump pulsar, which calculates the cost per gallon, according to deputies.

"They paid $6 for $600 worth of gas during one of those visits," Chronister said.

The suspects are accused of pumping fuel into large bladders they placed on top of their trucks and into bladders they hid inside vans.

What Are They Accused Of Doing With The Fuel?

During the undercover operation, detectives reviewed surveillance video that showed the accused thieves selling the fuel at two vacant lots — one near Tampa International Airport and the other near Orient Road Jail — where commercial trucks paid to park their trucks, Chronister said.

"How did they conduct a 12-hour shift," Chronister asked. "They would have an individual stand there and hold the pump as they kept rotating these seven trucks between both locations."

Reporters asked Chronister why employees at the two Circle Ks didn't catch what was going on. He said the investigators wondered the same thing.

Patch reached out to Circle K's public relations office and asked them how the thefts could have gone unnoticed by the Circle K employees at both locations. Circle K has not responded to Patch's request for comment.

Detectives accused the suspects of selling the stolen gasoline at half the price of a gas station to independent truck drivers.

"These thieves saw this as an opportunity to sell this fuel at a significant reduction," Chronister said. "These individuals would immediately take it from the gas pumps to the bulk fuel site, where they created this larger fuel bladder that they had there and they would sell the gas immediately. I mean that's how quick they would go profit from it."

The next step, Chronister said, is finding out if the owners of the two parking lots were involved in this operation.

Since Monday morning's press conference, an update from authorities said these suspects may be connected to prior unsolved gas thefts dating back several months that occurred in Pinellas, Pasco, Hernando and Hillsborough Counties.

“This was very clearly an organized crime ring, and these suspects were not new to the business,” Chronister said. “While we have identified just over $60,000 in gas theft from seven documented events, we believe these men are responsible for far more money in theft due to their operation running nearly every day of the week.”

For names of the suspects and their mugshots, visit Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office website.