The Antelope Valley Times

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Quartz Hill man nabbed for alleged gasoline theft

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Gasoline-theft suspect Danny Hales was in a pickup truck that appeared to be rigged to illegally siphon fuel from other vehicles and pump it through the cab directly into the extra fuel tank, authorities said. (Photo courtesy LASD)

LANCASTER – A 43-year-old man in a pickup truck that was rigged to steal fuel from other vehicles was caught in the act and arrested early Friday morning, authorities said.

Danny Hales of Quartz Hill was arrested around 12:52 a.m. for grand theft and fuel tampering, according to Palmdale Sheriff’s Lieutenant Cory Kennedy.

Kennedy said Hales was busted after he parked his pickup truck suspiciously close to a Time Warner Cable van in the 400 Block of Palmdale Boulevard. The van’s driver contacted the Palmdale Station shortly before midnight, Kennedy said.

“We believe he interrupted him before he was actually able to accomplish the theft,” Kennedy said. “We got there quick, so that he didn’t have a chance to get away.”

Deputies responding to the parking lot saw a large amount of gasoline on the ground and Hales sitting in the cab of a truck equipped to steal gasoline, Kennedy said.

“Knowing that we’ve had gas theft in the past, and even in that area, they detained him,” Kennedy said.

This is the first arrest where the deputies actually found a suspect and vehicle equipped to steal fuel, Kennedy said.

The truck was modified with a large, unattached, auxiliary fuel tank in the bed that was full of fuel.  There was a hose and some electrical wires which led to the cab, and an electrical pump with an additional fuel line, Kennedy said. There also appeared to be at least 30 feet of hose attached, which fed back to the tank in the bed.

The truck appeared to be rigged to illegally siphon fuel from other vehicles and pump it through the cab directly into the extra fuel tank, Kennedy said.

Over the past year, Palmdale Station has investigated numerous reports of fuel theft, with thieves making off with thousands of dollar in stolen fuel, Kennedy said.

“We believe that he may be involved with a lot of gas theft over the last year,” Kennedy said, adding that investigators were pulling all the reports of gas theft in order to connect them to Hales.

Kennedy said the majority of fuel theft cases involve large commercial vehicles, but the thieves also target rental cars.

“There was one incident we had where they were actually punching holes in these rental cars and taking their fuel,” he said.

Deputies have been warning companies not to leave their fully-fueled vehicles parked in public places overnight. Resident should also try to park in well-lit areas or invest in locking gas caps to prevent thieves from stealing fuel from their vehicles, Kennedy said.

“With the price of gas the way it is right now, the odds are we’re going to see more of that,” he added.

Hales was released on bail hours after his arrest, and is due in court on Oct. 23 to answer charges.

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Filed Under: Crime/ Safety

40 comments for "Quartz Hill man nabbed for alleged gasoline theft"

  2. A thief comes in many colors and doesn’t give a care of who or what the victim is (race-wise). The QH area is notorious for housing tweakers which just happen to be most white. The guy stealing the gas is at fault and in my opinion damn stupid siphoning gas from a business vehicle. He must have graduated from one of the local A.V. high schools, has a lot’s of children from multi-races, extremely hooked on speed. The only smart thing was they way he set up his truck, but he should have been discreet. As for all the white and non-white put down’s, it just plain ignorance being spewed. Just watch your back you all cause you just me be a victim someday…and it doesn’t matter if you live in Quartz Hill.

    • LOL..yeah you got the tweaker part right..2 yrs ago his rap sheet was 59 pages long. Although that was mostly stalking, battery, criminal threats, violation of restraining order you know all violent crimes towards women.And some drug charges. Still walking the streets!!!!!! Thanks to the LAPD and LASD..can you say rat

  3. First off, he was not found with ANY fuel. They are speculating! He was released without a court date. GET YOU FACTS STRAIGHT!!!

    • WRONG!! I looked him up in the jail house system. And it says court date Oct 23. And get this, Danny boy was just RELEASED FROM JAIL in July too.

      You care to tell me what your friend was doing that put him in the slammer in July? I bet if I look up his court records I will find more arrests too. Is your friend a career criminal?

      THIS is the perfect example of someone DEFENDING A CRIMINAL! So who was the one who said the white community doesn’t defend criminals? Here is your example!!!

      AV Times people, please don’t delete me again! I am making not condemning the whole white community, just making a point because someone on here said the black community defends criminals and the white community does not. I honestly believe defending a criminal is not about race, you just defend the person you love.

      • What this guy did was wrong! Make no mistake! but stealing gas at a time when gas prices are at an all time high is a lot more understandable than stealing panties from Target and biting security guard in the process. If she had stolen food I might have been a little more sympathetic.

      • This sounds more like his partner is crime, than the white community sticking up for him.

        I do not see different white reverends and politicians coming out and saying this “poor man was misunderstood,” and “had been put down by the powers that be.”

      • i can tell you..Beating women, stalking, drugs..they never keep him very long though. Staling gas is one of his softer crimes..not as bad as stabbing your wife..Still walking the streets, beating and terrorizing women, one after another!

      • Look him up, cops know him personally..check out San Fernando Valley also he is a woman beater! Meth addict.

  4. He had money for all the stuff in the back of his truck and the truck itself which seems pretty nice from the picture. My point being he could have bought his own gas but decided to use an expensive aftermarket fuel cell to steal from someone else, albeit a money sucking cable company.
    He is a P.O.S. He could have been stealing from one of us!

    Pretty spicy fuel cell though.

    • Thank you telling it like it is Javier! The man was a POS criminal that could have been stealing from one of us! You are the first person here to point this out.

      • Have you ever gone out to an empty tank after knowing it was full? That is how you would know if he was stealing from one of us! Have not seen any comments from victims.

  5. YALL WAIT A MINUTE B4 COMMENTING! WITH THIS GAS PRICES BEING SO HIGH, I DON’T BLAME THE POOR GUY!! HE WAS PROBABLY TAKING IT FROM THE RICH TO GIVE TO THE POOR!!! MODERN DAY ROBIN HOOD!!!
    YALL SHOULD GO EASY ON HIM CUSS HIS WHITE!! LMAO!!!

  6. Let’s play a little game of can you identify the white trash in the back of the pick-up truck?
    Who can find the following items:
    1. Cigarettes
    2. Axle Cap
    3. Pledge
    4. Masking tape
    5. hypodermic needle
    6. Mag Light
    7. shop rags
    8. extra car batteries
    9. Tire iron
    10. 2 x 4
    Bonus
    11. Crush soda bottle
    12. battery charger
    13. Windshield squeegee

  7. A thieving thug from QH? Bwahahahahaha!!! This is probably the same thug that broke through the roof yesterday at the liquor store.

    This two bit gas thief should take his Section 8 voucher and move back to where exactly?? Bwahahahaha!! But in all seriousness, I am not at all surprised. Like I have said many times on this board, almost every thug in my hood is white. It feel good to knock you people down a peg or two…

    • Funny, how so many people lining up to make negative comments about a VICTIM stabbed to death base on pictures on a fb page and a nickname, but I am the ONLY one on this board condemning this CRIMINAL THIEF! Nobody saying nothing bad about Danny boy, I wonder why?? Nobody said anything bad about the RAPIST who violated the 15 yr old either, except me. It’s because these fine american citizens don’t fit your stereotype of what a criminal is right? Hypocritical mofos!!!!! Come on here and talk about your community!!

      • Well find his Facebook page and if he has a bunch of photos showing him with a mullet and a shotgun then we can proceed with the Elmer Fudd jokes..
        Just because he has a pick up truck and was stealing gas doesn’t mean he’s white..
        The truck is green and odds would put him as Hispanic not that it matters.. its the actions not the race that is in question here.

        • If the criminal in this case was one of Greta’s ‘Bros the vehicle would have had 22 inch rims, a paint scheme that cost thousand of dollars and the best Pep Boys stereo that can be shop lifted.

        • From Palmdale Steve we get no condemnation of the actual criminal in the case — a white thief from Quartz Hill — someone who probably looks a hell of a lot like Palmdale Steve.

          To divert attention from this fact, Palmdale Steve resorts to a a trumped up hypothetical scenario to slide in yet another racist stereotype against black folk.

          Palmdale Steve = RACIST HYPOCRITICAL MOFO!!!!!!!!

        • Hey Greta- Nor do we hear a bunch of family members writing “He’s just a misunderstood boy who was about to turn his life around…” etc. etc.

        • @Hector

          You know the difference between a MURDER VICTIM and a CRIMINAL THIEF right? It is quite OK for family members to defend their MURDERED loved one from the ass boils on this site who label him a criminal and gangsta based on nothing more that a FB page and a nickname! Where is the evidence of criminal history on the MURDER VICTIM? NADA!!! Just a bunch of ASSumptions! Who wouldn’t protect their DEAD family member, not even buried in the ground yet, from that bullsh–!!

          The same RACIST HYPOCRITICAL MOFOS had everything to say about the BLACK THIEF who stole panties from Target the other day. But here we have a QUARTZ HILL WHITE THIEF ARRESTED AND BOOKED and not a peep from the peanut gallery. Just more stereotypes on the black community who didn’t steal gas from anybody.

          RACIST HYPOCRITICAL MOFOS ALL OF YOU!!! GOOD DAY!

          • It’s because, MOFO, it’s funny when some loser steals panties and bites a security guard. When some idiot steals gas, it’s not that funny. You better get off the computer now…I think Obama’s holding a White House press briefing…wait, disregard that. He doesn’t like answering tough questions.

        • Don’t have a problem with yt. You may not know this, but I too am yt. Got a problem with racist hypocritical mofos that’s all!!

          Don’t comment on me. Comment on that damn thief in the article, like you comment whenever a person of color make the crime blotter. Where are all the jokes and the psychobabble about what the white community need to do to stop two bit thieves like Danny boy?

          You think Danny was a product of a fatherless home? His Mommy be on the welfare? His EBT card ran out so he had to steal the gas for money to buy pampers for his baby momma(s)? He need the gas for his truck to drive back to Watts? Compton? I see red in that truck, Danny boy be a Blood?

          Why couldn’t that damn white mother raise her no good thuggin white son right? What should the white community do to stop thugs like Danny from preying on our society?

          See how stooopid that sound? That’s how YOU sound when you make those same comment about black folk! HYPOCRITES!!!!!!!!

          • What makes this case different Greta… the victim/possible neighbor called the cops on him and got him rolled up in a few.

            The “white” community is not out here saying he is misunderstood, etc. We are glad he got arrested, no matter his race.

            So stop race baiting, and chances are, you aren’t white. I have never seen a “white” person use “yt” to identify themselves, ever.

          • The story says the van driver called the cops. Who wouldn’t call the cops if they see their own vehicle being messed with? And didn’t a black woman win an award the other day for calling the cops to get the gang member robber rolled on? STOP MAKING EXCUSES!!! YOU SOUND LIKE A FOOL!!

            This case is no different!!! The man is a thief just like all the others!!!! But you call it “different” to make excuses for this white thugs behavior! PATHETIC!!!!! The “white” community isn’t saying anything here, but saying everything about a black stabbing VICTIM instead!!! HYPOCRITES!!!!

            I was being sarcastic when I used the term yt, but it went straight over your wonder bread head.

            And I don’t give a flying f– what race you think me to be, I know what I am! You think I have to lie about it, for what??

            You call me race baiting but you people are the BIGGEST race baiters of all!!! And HYPOCRITES on top of it!!!

          • Greta, where did I make an excuse for anything? The thief got what he deserved, plain and simple.

            That’s right, that is the difference between some different communities here in the AV, most of the white community backs up the action of the cops.

            You come here and post race baiting comments.

            You are making racist comments regarding me.

            You lie regarding me, other posters, and other commentors here. So why wouldn’t you lie about whether you are male or female, what ethnicity you are, etc. You do lie in order to “prove” yourself, which falls flat.

            So stop being a hypocrite yourself, if you had an argument you wouldn’t be trying to insult other posters but actually try having a debate.

          • I TELL IT LIKE IT IS BOBBY BOY!!! You, Bob, are the same person who had multiple negative comments about four Hispanic VICTIMS who died in a tragic car crash a while ago. But under this story of a Quartz Hill white thief, you still try and shift the attention to me.

            How the hell do you know that most of the white community back up the cops? Is that what you tell yourself? Because the white tweakers in my neighborhood don’t tell the cops sh–!!!

            You think this fine example of the “white community” in the story backed up the actions of the cops arresting his ass. What about that other POS child rapist from the white community? Do you think be backed up the actions of the cops throwing his ass in jail? No lies here!!! Just uncovering the many racist hypocrites on this site who can’t handle the truth like you!! And where is my racism toward you? Calling you wonder bread? Bwahahahaha!! I should have said wonder bread HYPOCRITE!!!!!

          • Greta, I love how you make someone running a stop sign a racial issue, the family suffered a tragic loss because of a mistake of their family member. There was no need to bring it up here. My comments on that thread (as well as the comments regarding the white cal fire fighter who run a stop sign on Ave D and 110th,) was to bring attention how dangerous it is on those roads not to pay attention. The fact you bring their race up shows how racist you are, you make it a “us versus whitey” thing, it had nothing to do with that. It was “a tragic mistake that lead to deaths” kind of thing.

            Why don’t YOU snitch on those white tweakers in your neighborhood? Do you expect the criminals to snitch each other off?

            I cannot think of one person in my community (and by community, I mean my neighborhood which consists of people from all races) who wouldn’t snitch on that rapist if they knew where he was or saw him. You also seem to forget their are pedophiles from every race, however statistically certain demographics have larger incidents of unreported cases. I.e. Number gathered by community leaders, law enforcement, etc.

            Sadly, it seems you are so caught up in being a hypocrite and racist yourself you fail to see the ignorance in your own comment:

            “And where is my racism toward you? Calling you wonder bread? Bwahahahaha!! I should have said wonder bread HYPOCRITE!!!!!” – Greta