HOUSTON – A family-owned gas station in southwest Houston claims thousands of dollars’ worth of diesel fuel was stolen from their underground storage tanks by alleged thieves.
Jerry Thayil, the manager at the Fuqua Express gas station, said he first noticed something was wrong while doing his daily inventory checks and began reviewing surveillance video.
Thayil said he noticed a dark-colored van parking over the store’s storage tanks on multiple occasions.
“At first we were like, I wonder what he’s doing there because we didn’t see anyone get out of the vehicle but then we realized there’s probably a trap door inside the vehicle and he’s pumping like that,” Thayil said.
Thayil said his family’s business was hit three times for about 350 gallons of diesel per day. On the fourth attempt, he said he was at the store.
“As soon I saw him drive over the tanks, I sprinted out of the office,” said Thayil.
In surveillance video, Thayil can be seen chasing down the van’s driver who speeds off.
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“We have bills to pay, we got employees that count on us, that need that money,” Thayil said.
Thayil believes the van’s driver may have had an accomplice in a separate vehicle.
He has filed a police report with the Houston Police Department and notified them of what he believes took place.
KPRC 2 reached out to HPD but unable to get any information on the case at the time.
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