A 19-year-old Silver Spring man was arrested Wednesday and charged with stealing grease from several restaurants in Lexington Park, Md.
According to a press release issued by the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office, deputies encountered a suspicious vehicle and individual while conducting a premises check at the Lexington Village shopping center early Wednesday morning.
When deputies caught 19-year-old Hamsel Lugo Peralta, he was attempting to breach the dumpster behind the Golden Chicken restaurant.
Peralta said that he was taking used grease from the Valley Proteins dumpster at the rear of the business. A grease dumpster behind another nearby restaurant, Pizza Boli’s, had two damaged locks. Peralta said he was able to open the top door of Pizza Boli’s dumpster and insert a hose inside to extract the grease into a 330-gallon container.
The two 330-gallon tanks in the vehicle are estimated to be worth $3,000.
Deputies arrested Peralta and transported him to the St. Mary’s County Detention and Rehabilitation Center in Leonardtown where he was charged with several charges of theft and destruction of property.
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