Two truck drivers were arrested earlier this week after ripping off a Love’s truck stop in Salt Lake City for nearly $1400 in fuel.
A store clerk noticed that the two were spending a long time at the pump, for a relatively small amount of fuel, so he decided to investigate further. At closer inspection, he realized the two men, Adolpho Fonts and Orlando Villarta-Mendez, had tampered with the fuel meter causing it do display much less than they were actually pumping.
“They were tampering with a fuel meter, which caused them to appear to be taking out less fuel than they were actually taking,” Detective Dennis McGowan told KSL News.
Salt Lake City police say the two caused nearly a thousand dollars worth of damage to the fuel pump, while stealing $1370.52 worth of fuel.
Fonts was caught and arrested at the pump, while Villarta-Medez was caught on the I-80 westbound ramp.
Officers say both men were compliant and neither resisted arrest when they were confronted. Their trucks have since been impounded.