Crime & Safety

Police Foil Fuel Theft at School Bus Depot

A burglar tried to use a tank, generator and hose to steal fuel from buses in the lot.

A police helicopter cut short an attempt to steal hundreds of gallons of fuel from a Baltimore County school bus depot.

According to a Baltimore County police report, the incident happened at 11:16 p.m. Friday at the lot in the 100 block of Weber Avenue in Essex. An officer in a police helicopter, which flew over the site while investigating an unrelated robbery, saw a school bus with its headlights on and asked police to investigate.

Police discovered that someone had cut a fence to gain access to the depot and used a generator and hose to pump diesel fuel from the buses into a 10,000-gallon tank located in a stolen Budget rental truck.

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When police arrived, they found fresh footprints at the scene. The generator, truck and tank were left behind, according to the report.

The burglar had siphoned 405 gallons of fuel, which were recovered. Police had no suspects as of Monday morning. 

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Anyone with information about this incident may call police at 410-307-2020.


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