HARRIS COUNTY, Texas — A pair of Harris County men are accused of manipulating a pump to pay a lower price for diesel fuel.
This happened at the 7-11 on Humble Westfield Road where diesel was priced at $4.
"What we found was they were in the process of unloading diesel fuel at a tremendous amount at a very low cost on the pump,” said Harris County Precinct 4 Constable Mark Herman.
He didn't want to give away exactly what type of device was used but said it’s capable of allowing fuel to flow while the dollar amount remains low.
"Thus, when they go into pay, they’re paying a less amount for a large quantity of fuel,” said Herman.
In this case, Hander Lopez and Arley Almira Lopez were both charged with misdemeanor theft and possession of a criminal instrument.
Editor's note: Law enforcement previously identified one of the suspects as Arley Almira Ramos. Court documents later identified him as Arley Almira Lopez.
Herman said gas station owners need to be aware of this crime because it's starting to be just as much of a growing concern as criminals using devices at pumps to swipe debit or credit card numbers from customers.
"You know, we’ve seen this problem in the last six to eight months pick up," said Herman. "We’ve made several criminal cases up here in North Harris County, but you’re starting to see it all throughout the county and the state.”
We were not able to speak to a representative from 7-11 but were told a store clerk saw Lopez and Ramos fiddling with the gas pumps before reporting them.