1,000 gallons of diesel stolen from Texas gas station in broad daylight

Police in Houston, Texas, are investigating for the group responsible for stealing more than 1,000 gallons of diesel fuel straight from a local gas station’s storage tanks.

Police say the thieves stole 350 gallons of diesel every day for three days straight from the family-owned Fuqua Express in the southeast part of town, for a total of about 1,100 gallons.

"People are trying to make a buck," Jerry Thayil, manager of Fuqua Express, told Fox 26. "This is not the way to make a buck."

The burglars’ operation was elaborated, involving a van with a trap door and a lookout. Surveillance video showed a lookout cart stop a nearby pump as the van parked over the gas caps of the station’s underground storage tanks.

Investigators believe that the thieves opened the gas caps and quietly pumped hundreds of gallons of diesel through the trap door into their vehicle.

"You wouldn’t see anything," said Thayil. "There’s only an 8-inch clearance from the van, to the [ground]. They have a trap door inside their van. They pull up the trap door, break the lock of our tank cap, and insert a tube there and start the pump. It took them about 15 minutes to get roughly [350 gallons] of diesel."

After reviewing security camera footage, Thayil confronted the group when they arrived on the fourth day.

"Don’t try that over here again," said Thayil.  "Give yourselves up."

Authorities are looking for at least four vehicles associated with the diesel thefts. Thayil estimates the stolen fuel to be worth over $5,000.