Men who tried to evade police by telling "a fairly long garden path of porkies" arrested in Fareham
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Two men were arrested at a petrol station in Fareham on suspicion of stealing a large quantity of fuel.
A white van was seized at the Asda fuel station in Highlands Road yesterday afternoon (January 22). Fareham Police said on Facebook that they received reports of two males trying to pay for fuel with declining bank cards.
“Staff at the station had identified that this was not the first time that the van had been involved in something like this,” they added. “In fact, it had allegedly done similar on multiple occasions already this month at various petrol stations across the UK to a value well in excess of £1000.”
Officers started to question the two males, who “magically managed to find the funds to pay” after spotting the police. Checks with the police control room showed one of the individuals had been insured on the van for several months.
“They both claimed to not understand what I was getting at, which turned out to be only the beginning of a fairly long garden path of porkies they were going to try and lead us down,” Fareham Police added.
Initial searches could not find anything nefarious on the two men relating to theft. They reportedly refused officers access to the vehicle. Personnel broke into the vehicle through the passenger window. Nothing was found in the cab, but after getting into the back of the vehicle, they found a large plastic tank that smelt of fuel.
Fareham Police said it had been adapted in a way which made them suspect it was used for theft. CCTV footage showed the men had thrown the van key and several fuel receipts into a nearby bin.
They said: “Both males were arrested on suspicion of theft and going equipped to steal and the van was seized. Enquiries are now ongoing to try and establish all of the other petrol stations that have been targeted and to obtain any outstanding evidence. Since news of the arrests got around, we have been contacted by another couple of local petrol stations where the same van had tried the same thing earlier in the day.”
Anyone with information is advised to call 101 quoting 44260033805, or submit a report on the police website.