The Herald, Sharon, Pa.

Local News

June 19, 2009

UPDATE: Fuel thief gets jail time, must repay Tic Toc

By Matt Snyder

HERMITAGE — An enterprising North Bloomfield, Ohio, criminal faces 3 to 23 months behind bars for the theft of 1,000 gallons of diesel fuel in April 2008 from Tic Toc Food Mart’s BP station in Hermitage.

Larry L. Donaldson, 57, pleaded guilty March 24 to stealing 1,000 gallons of fuel and agreed to pay restitution for having done it two other times in 2005. He was sentenced Friday by Mercer County Common Pleas Court Judge John C. Reed for retail theft.

Donaldson made off with the fuel in a two-axle trailer that he parked over the convenience store’s diesel tank. While Donaldson sat in the cab, someone else opened a trap door on his trailer and siphoned the gas into a tank hidden in the trailer behind bales of hay.

A skirt beneath the trailer concealed the siphoning from view, and the pump was powered by a vacuum in the truck’s engine, said Assistant District Attorney William J. Moder III.

As part of the plea, Donaldson will pay $10,150 to Tic Toc. The store’s president, Tim Pitzer, complimented Hermitage police on Friday for their work in the case.

Police tracked down Donaldson after the surveillance images were published and a neighbor recognized the pickup and trailer, Moder has said.

Donaldson owned a business that used diesel fuel and prosecutors said he used it for his own purposes. His nephew testified that Donaldson had previously talked about stealing fuel.

Donaldson also agreed to relinquish his truck and the pumping apparatus, Moder said. In exchange, he will get back the pickup he used to tow the trailer, since it could be used for legitimate, noncriminal activites.

Reed also made Donaldson eligible for work release, and Donaldson said he would be able to make restitution quickly if he is able to work.

While videotapes suggest Donaldson needed an accomplice to work the pump, no one else has been charged in the theft.

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