A 25-year-old Georgia man has been arrested after allegedly drilling holes into a U-Haul truck to steal fuel, resulting in a massive gasoline spill, according to the City of Griffin Police Department.
Camera and video footage obtained by the Griffin Police Department allegedly showed the suspect, who police identified as Jesse Smith, in the area with a fuel can in hand and his vehicle parked behind a nearby KFC. Griffin police posted those images to their social media pages, where community members made calls to investigators and assisted police in identifying Smith, police told NBC News.
Prior to identifying Smith as the suspect, Griffin police and the city of Griffin Fire Department received a 911 call reporting a massive fuel spill coming from a U-Haul truck in a local parking lot. Police said the spill was caused by damage to the fuel tank which had been intentionally punctured, resulting in gas pouring out onto the ground.
Smith has been charged with criminal damage to property and theft by taking, as well as reckless conduct. Smith allegedly targeted a U-Haul truck at a local USA Rent-A-Space, stealing five gallons of fuel and spilling between 35 to 45 gallons, police told NBC News. Smith did not immediately respond to NBC News’ request for comment.
The Griffin Fire Department was left to clean up the hazardous gasoline spill after Smith left the scene, working through rainy conditions to get the job done, police said. The police expressed frustration in response to the incident in multiple Facebook posts on Wednesday while working with the fire department to get the spill under control. They humorously stated that the security camera footage showing Smith and his vehicle at the scene was “helpful” in the investigation.
The Colonial Pipeline, the country’s largest artery for transporting fuel, shut down all its operations Friday after hackers broke in to some of its networks, resulting in a panic across the Southeast over a potential gas shortage.
As of Wednesday afternoon, 65 percent of gas stations in all of North Carolina were out of gas, according to Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, an app that tracks fuel. Over 40 percent of stations are out in Georgia, South Carolina, and Virginia. And over 10 percent of stations are dry in Florida, Maryland, and Tennessee.
On Wednesday, Colonial released an updated statement saying that it would resume operations, but will likely not be running as normal for several days.
Lucy Bayly and Ben Popken contributed.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
