A Colorado man accused of stealing more than $11,000 in diesel fuel from a Douglas, Wyoming, truck stop could face up to 10 years in prison.
The theft case of Alexander Navarro, who turns 46 this year, rose to the felony-level Converse County District Court on Tuesday after a Douglas judge found probable cause to elevate the case.
The investigation started about 4 a.m., April 21, when Converse County Cpl. Peter Isner received a report that people in a white pickup and a red Freightliner semitruck were stealing fuel from Douglas-area pumps that morning, according to an evidentiary affidavit Isner filed a day later.
When Isner arrived at the Orin Junction Truck Stop, he found one red Freightliner semitruck parked at the diesel fuel pump islands and a man near the driver’s side door.
The man, whom the affidavit calls Navarro, reportedly said he was not buying fuel.
Isner peered into the cab, and he allegedly saw tanks or barrels on the cab floor near where the driver’s right foot would sit.
Who's There?
Isner heard someone else enter or exit the cab of the semitruck on the passenger side and asked who was with Navarro, the affidavit says, adding that Navarro replied, “my brother.”
Isner circled around to the passenger side of the truck and found no one there, but did notice that a pickup that had been parked in the area prior was now gone, the affidavit says.
“I observed fresh diesel fuel leaking off the tarps of the covered, mixed load and onto the ground next to Pump 6,” Isner wrote. “I know it is not normal for commercial motor vehicles to load fuel into tanks on flatbed trailers from diesel fuel pumps, nor transport fuel in this matter and quantity without hazmat placards displayed.”
Isner detained Navarro and did a sweep of the area for other potential suspects, then looked at the top of the semitruck’s covered load. He saw about 15 separate crated tanks, known as IBC totes, covered with a black heavy-duty tarp commonly used to cover trailered loads, says the document.
The tarp reportedly had multiple holes in it corresponding with each tank’s opening.
Isner cast this as a red flag as well, writing that truck drivers usually don’t put holes in their expensive tarps, or don’t add holes without reinforcing them since traveling at highway speeds can rip them.
Loose diesel fuel pooled on the tarp near the pump; two tanks were missing their lids and one tote was filled to the brim with diesel, the affidavit says.
The document says identifying marks on the tractor and trailer were obscured with stickers, and the other portions of the sticker packs still lay in the cab of the tractor.
The Haul
At first, Isner estimated Navarro had taken $1,820 worth of fuel — that’s 500 gallons at $3.649 per gallon.
His later investigation would total the suspected stolen fuel at about $11,030.41.
The affidavit doesn’t give a gallon amount for that total, but if the total were also priced at $3.649 per gallon, it would amount to 3,023 gallons.
Isner wrote that he found a tampering device on Pump 5 next to where the semitruck was parked.
Navarro’s bond is set at $50,000 cash-only, says his court file, which also contains translator’s affidavits and a declaration of rights written in Spanish.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
