EG Police Investigating After Men Caught Behind Dave's Marketplace with Greasy Van, Pumping System

A man who has been arrested for stealing used cooking oil from Rhode Island restaurants twice before was caught driving out from behind Dave’s Marketplace in East Greenwich Square in a van rigged with a pump, hose and oil collection system at around 1:30 a.m. early Monday morning.

Police ultimately charged Jose O. Acevedo, 36, of 138 Whitehall St., Providence, with driving with a suspended license. But detectives continue to investigate the circumstances in which the two men were discovered -- driving a van that an officer described as having an “overwhelming stench of grease” equipped with a large motorized pumping system with a hose and clear plastic oil storage container that was three-quarters full.

Acevedo, according to a police report, said they were driving back from New York and were behind Dave’s Marketplace to urinate. They said the oil was from a Chinese restaurant in Connecticut but couldn’t remember its name or address.

Behind the market, police saw what looked to be fresh tire marks and footprints next to the oil containers, which belong to Newport Biodiesel.

When asked why he was seen behind the market with the pumping system in the van, which was reportedly covered with a sleeping bag, Acevedo reportedly said “we just had to go to the bathroom.”

Acevedo and a Bronx, N.Y., woman were arrested in Johnston in 2013 after they were caught stealing oil from a Burger King in the early morning hours.

Acevedo was driving the same van in that incident and was on probation for a prior charge of wilful trespass brought by Providence Police.

Thefts of cooking oil from restaurants has been an increasingly-common crime as oil can fetch around $1 per gallon on the streets.

Thieves often work late at night, swooping behind a business to quickly pump the oil and move on.

Sometimes, the thieves pose as employees of legitimate oil recycling companies. In a string of crimes in New York, one company, Tristate Biodiesel, said thieves were posing as their employees.

In September of this year, two Cranston brothers pleaded guilty in a major criminal enterprise in which they stole as much as $430,000 in used oil and then stored it in bulk in a Central Falls warehouse before selling it to a New Hampshire company.