2 men accused of stealing fuel

Two Miami men were arrested Wednesday after a witness saw them using a hose to steal fuel from a tractor trailer’s fuel tank, then pump it directly into their tank, Florence Police Maj. Carlos Raines said.

Ernesto Alfonso Salceiro, 35, of 7460 W. 15 Court and Ulises Garrido Roque, 31, of 10530 NW 35 Court, are each charged with one count of breaking into motor vehicles, tanks and/or pumps where fuel or lubricants are stored, Florence County Detention Center bookings reports show.

The crime happened at about 10:30 p.m. Wednesday in the parking lot of the Toys ‘R’ Us in Florence when a man arrived at his tractor trailer and found two men running a hose from his rig’s fuel tank into their truck’s fuel tank, Raines said. The victim asked the suspects what they were doing, but the two men only looked at him and began rolling up the hose. The two suspects left the scene, but were stopped on Interstate 95 by a police officer.

The victim, who had summoned police, arrived on the scene, identified the two men and said they had taken about half of the contents of his fuel tank, Raines said. Police searched the suspects’ truck and found the hose still connected to the fuel tank.

Both suspects remain in custody at the jail in Effingham under $5,000 surety bonds.