Four people were arrested of on suspicion of attempting to steal a dozen 55-gallon plastic drums filled with gas using a card belonging to the City of Auburn.
The Placer County Sheriff's Department said they were alerted about 1:45 a.m. Monday that somebody was stealing gas from a Dawson Oil card lock station on Bowman Road in Auburn.
When deputies arrived, they saw two pickups, one of them sagging under the weight of full barrels of gas. Deputies also allege that they saw Raymond E. Farmer, 54, in the process of filling a barrel in the back of another truck belonging to him.
Farmer and the man in the other truck, John Patrick Steel, 47, both had outstanding warrants. Farmer said he bought the gas using a Dawson Oil credit card but did not know who owned the card.
A Dawson Oil employee who arrived at the scene of the fill-up station determined the card belonged to the City of Auburn. Neither Farmer nor Steel work for the city.
Farmer, according to a sheriff's department press release, said he took the barrels from a Sacramento business but could provide the name of the business.
Farmer, Steel and passengers in the trucks, Dawn Marie Darnell, 47, and Ranae Lynn Miller, 40, were charged on suspicion of grand theft, possession of stolen property and theft by credit card.
Dawson Oil could not re-use the gasoline worth $2,600 due to "potential contamination," according to the sheriff's department press release.
PHOTO CREDIT: Clockwise from top left: Miller, Steel, Farmer and Darnell
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