Thieves Steal 756 Gallons of Gas From Fremont Valero Station, Owner Says

Thieves stole thousands of dollars’ worth of fuel from a Bay Area Valero gas station, according to the station’s owner.

The crooks hid under the cloak of darkness to pull off the major heist at the station at the Fremont hub, on the corner of Mowry Avenue and Fremont Boulevard.

Ray Olyaie, the station’s owner, told NBC Bay Area on Tuesday he is stunned that two people were able pump out 756 gallons of diesel from his holding tank over a period of 2 1/2 hours without being stopped or arrested.

Olyaie’s security cameras caught the entire crime on video, with the suspects appearing either oblivious to the surveillance setup or just not caring.

It happened early Friday between 12:30 and 3 a.m, after the station attendant went off-duty. The surveillance footage shows a minivan and pickup truck working in tandem. At top right corner of the screen is the minivan pulling up to the opening of the ground tank, with the pickup right behind it. The driver of minivan apparently shines a flashlight toward the tank port.

Olyaie said he assumes they had some sort of portable electric pump to siphon the diesel into 55 gallon drums in the minivan, a very dangerous operation he points out, if there were a spark.

In the video, both vehicles can be seen leaving and returning for over two hours, presumably to unload and bring back empty drums. The two suspects pulled off the theft while other customers, including an ambulance, pull up to fuel up.

Olyaie knew something was wrong Saturday morning, when his tank reading showed him short more than 750 gallons. He put two and two together after seeing the missing cap and broken lock to the port opening and spilled diesel.

Olyaie is offering a $5,000 reward, $2,100 more than the $2,900 in fuel he says he lost.

“You have to, because unfortunately the police department, they’re not going to go after them,” Olyaie said. “They say they don’t have the money to go after those people so somebody has to do something.”

NBC Bay Area’s attempts to reach Fremont police for comment were not immediately successful.

Olyaie said he has friend who also owns a Valero, in Newark, who had his fuel stolen a few weeks ago by two suspects in similar vehicles.

In that case, police described the minivan as a dark colored Plymouth Voyager, two-toned, possibly dark gray or light gray, with chrome rims and luggage rack. The pickup is described as a dark-colored, full-size king cab Chevrolet pickup with bed cover, chrome rims and running boards.

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