2 Stole Hundreds of Gallons Of Oil From Restaurant: Orange PD

ORANGE, CT — Two New York residents are accused of stealing cooking oil from a local restaurant, Orange Police say. Officers responded to Eli’s Restaurant on Route One regarding a theft complaint.

Officers learned that two people driving a van, Miguel Ayala, 22, and Jonathan Garces, 24, had taken a large quantity of used cooking oil from the restaurant, police said. Officers located the van a short distance away, and found that the interior of the van contained a 600 gallon holding tank which was nearly full of oil, police said.

The two arrestees admitted to taking the oil from Eli’s Restaurant, but claimed they had permission, police said. This was determined to be untrue, police said. Both parties were taken into custody and charged with sixth-degree larceny. The State of Connecticut DEEP responded to manage the oil, and prevent it from becoming a hazard, police said.

They were both held on a $2,000 bond.