Westchester Man Can't Slip Cops After 1,000-Gallon Cooking Oil Heist

HUDSON VALLEY, NY — Two New Yorkers are facing charges that they stole 1,000 gallons of cooking oil, then fled from police before causing a serious car crash, police said.

The owner of Pizza Palace Restaurant on Boston Post Road in Old Saybrook, CT called police just before 10 a.m. Thursday, according to a report from Patch's Chris Rhatigan.

The restaurant owner reported that he had just interrupted the theft of cooking oil at his restaurant. He was able to give police a description of the vehicle that fled the scene. He even directed police to another restaurant on Boston Post Road in Old Saybrook where he saw the truck and the two men, later identified by police as Prince Gonzalez, 21, of Yonkers and Leuri DeLeon Blanco, 21, of the Bronx, attempting to steal cooking oil from that restaurant, according to police.

"People are making good money with it," restaurant owner Stavros Gianitsos told Hartford CBS-affiliate WFSB. "They are cleaning it and doing whatever with it, then reselling it."

Gonzalez and DeLeon Blanco fled in a Home Depot rental truck. Police encountered the fleeing truck near the Old Saybrook/Westbrook town line. The truck would not stop for police, but instead sped away, eventually striking another vehicle, before getting on I-95 South.

The accident resulted in the injury of an elderly woman, who was listed in stable condition at Yale New Haven Hospital.

After several failed attempts to stop the fleeing truck, the use of stop sticks brought the chase to an end in Westport. Both Gonzalez and DeLeon Blanco then reportedly attempted to flee on foot but were soon captured by Connecticut State Police.

Gonzalez and DeLeon Blanco were each charged with two counts each of criminal trespass, six-degree attempted larceny and conspiracy to commit larceny. They were also charged with one count of possession of stolen property valued at over $4,000 and Gonzalez faces a slew of motor vehicle charges.