CNN reports that in the last three months, more than $300,000 in diesel fuel has been stolen from farmers in just one California county. (
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CNN says:
The crooks work around the clock, searching during the daytime for irrigation pumps run by diesel engines and supply tanks filled with diesel or gasoline, police and farmers say. They return at night, with their headlights off, to steal hundreds of gallons of fuel at a time.
What are the thieves doing with the stolen diesel?
(Sgt. Walt Reed of the Kern County Sheriff's Department and a member of California's Rural Crimes Task Force) suspects that they're selling the fuel to truckers who've been hit hard by skyrocketing prices. With the national average of regular unleaded gasoline at a record high of about $4.00 a gallon and more than $4.75 per gallon for diesel, according to AAA, Reed says it makes it even harder for them resist the temptation of cheap fuel.
"It's going to cost him $500 to fill up, and he can fill up (on stolen diesel) for $200," Reed said. "What's he going to do?"
