MERIDIAN, Idaho —
Meridian Police Department (MPD) is asking for the public’s help identifying a driver observed on a camera siphoning diesel from RC Willey delivery trucks early Tuesday morning.
According to MPD, the driver was seen siphoning diesel from trucks parked outside the company warehouse on the 3000 block of Lanark Street.
The man was driving a gold Dodge Ram pickup with a light bar on the roof, large dents along the sides and multiple storage tanks in the truck bed.
General Manager of RC Willey Jon Jensen told KTVB his staff realized the fuel was missing when they tried to start their vehicle trucks to head out on deliveries Tuesday morning. Jensen added staff typically fuel their delivery trucks all the way up the day before so they're ready to go the next morning.
When the vehicles did not start, Jensen knew something was up so he checked out the store's security footage.
That is when he saw the familiar-looking gold pickup seen on their footage once before.
"This is the second time. The last time was about two months ago," Jensen said. "Last time [the driver] picked a truck that didn't have a lot of gas and it was only on-site for about 15 minutes. [The driver] probably got maybe 50 gallons."
On Tuesday's incident, Jensen said the pickup was on-site for about an hour and took more than $1,000 worth of diesel fuel.
Jensen said he filed a police report each time.
"I'm thinking that this guy is desperate or this is his full-time job, stealing gas," Jensen said.
Jensen believes if it's happening to them, the person driving around in the middle of the night with large gas containers in their truck bed may also be stealing from others. He wanted to share his situation in hopes someone may be able to identify the driver and put a stop to this.
"We don't want him to hit any other businesses or any other individuals stealing people's gas because we all have to pay for it," Jensen said.
MPD asks if anyone has information to contact them at 208-846-7300. The reference case number is 22-5159.
People can also submit information anonymously on 343COPS.com or the P3 app.
Meridian Police searching for man siphoning gas from delivery trucks
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