Burney couple thwarts fuel theft from excavator parked near Britton Dam
BURNEY — An eagle-eyed Burney couple driving on a rural mountain roadway near Lake Britton Dam thwarted an attempted gas theft from a PG&E excavator yesterday morning, Saturday, May 4.
Although the couple were not able to get a description of the man who fled the scene after realizing he had been caught in the act of siphoning the excavator’s tank, the couple were later able to describe the man’s vehicle as an older, white, 1990’s Chevy extended cab pickup truck.
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Yesterday’s incident, which has since been reported to both Shasta County Sheriff’s Department as well as PG&E, happened around 7:30 a.m.; when the couple happened to notice a pickup truck stopped alongside a parked excavator. As the couple drove past, they noticed what appeared to be suspicious activity happening around the construction vehicle.
As the couple, who have requested to remain anonymous, were turning around to drive back and check out what appeared to be a man siphoning diesel fuel from the excavator, the man jumped into a pickup truck and sped away from the area. In his haste, the alleged suspect left behind a fuel canister and long length of rubber hose he had been using to siphon gas from the vehicle.
A man attempting to steal diesel fuel from a parked PG&E excavator was chased away by a Burney couple who spotted the man’s suspicious early morning activity. When the couple stopped, they found fuel spilling all over the excavator’s tracks and running down the dirt road where the large construction vehicle was parked.
When the couple checked, they found the abandoned fuel canister had filled to capacity and diesel fuel was spilling down the tracks of the excavator and onto the dirt roadway.
After chasing the man away, the good Samaritans managed to stop the flow and spillage of fuel from the excavator, a yellow Hyundai 210 LC-7A with nearly a 90 gallon fuel capacity. The couple later told SCNS they left the fuel canister and hoses as possible evidence for the sheriff’s department to recover.
In a phone interview with SCNS, the couple described the man’s vehicle as a white, 1990’s Chevy extended cab pickup truck, with a wide gray or black stripe along the side. They further described the truck as having a black headache rack behind the cab, a black front bumper, and a blacked out front grill.
As of Sunday morning, it was not known if sheriff’s or PG&E officials had responded to the scene or collected the abandoned items as evidence. Attempts to call SCSO’s Burney Mountain Sub-Station for more information Sunday morning went unanswered.
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Photographs taken by the anonymous couple show diesel fuel that spilled out of a fuel canister abandoned and left behind by the unknown male suspect.
Contact the writer: [email protected]
Trevor Montgomery, 47, moved last year to the Intermountain area of Shasta County from Riverside County and runs Riverside County News Source and Shasta County News Source. Additionally, he writes for several other news organizations; including Riverside County based newspapers, Valley News, The Valley Chronicle, and Anza Valley Outlook; as well as Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County and Mountain Echo in Shasta County.
Trevor spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg, breaking his back, and suffering both spinal cord and brain injuries in an off-duty accident. (Click here to see segment of Discovery Channel documentary of Trevor’s accident.)
During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations; including Robert Presley Detention Center, Southwest Station in Temecula, Hemet/Valle Vista Station, Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center, and Lake Elsinore Station; along with other locations.
Trevor’s assignments included Corrections, Patrol, DUI Enforcement, Boat and Personal Water-Craft based Lake Patrol, Off-Road Vehicle Enforcement, Problem Oriented Policing Team, and Personnel/Background Investigations. He finished his career while working as a Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Investigator and was a court-designated expert in child abuse and child sex-related crimes.
Trevor has been married for more than 28 years and was a foster parent to more than 60 children over 13 years. He is now an adoptive parent and his “fluid family” includes 13 children and 15 – but soon to be 16 – grandchildren.