CLERMONT, Fla. – A Florida man was arrested last week after nearly 130 gallons of cooking oil was stolen from a local restaurant, according to the Clermont Police Department.
In a release, police said the manager of the nearby Beef ‘O’ Brady’s restaurant spotted the suspect — “described as a slender black male with dreadlocks wearing all black” — taking the cooking oil out of the restaurant.
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After the manager confronted him, however, the suspect fled in a white, beat-up work van, the release shows.
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The van was later pulled over for a traffic stop, and the suspect told police that he was “just driving around, collecting oil to take to a buyer,” investigators said.
However, the van was outfitted with equipment that made it appear as though it could be part of a “criminal enterprise,” the release reads.
According to police, there was a pair of bolt cutters near the front of the cab, and around 129 gallons of cooking oil — worth over $430 — had been stolen from the restaurant.
The suspect was arrested and taken to the Lake County Jail. He faces charges of burglary, possession of burglary tools, traveling across county lines to commit crimes, and not having a driver’s license.
No additional information has been provided, including the suspect’s identity and how the theft was conducted.
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