Defense: Judge Should See Video: Hearing on Gas Theft Extended
By Joe Pinchot, The Herald, Sharon, Pa.
Jul. 17–HERMITAGE — District Judge Ronald E. Antos, Farrell, extended the preliminary hearing of a man charged with stealing diesel fuel from a Hermitage gas station so a viewing of two surveillance videos can be set up.
Antos heard testimony from five witnesses Wednesday in the case against Larry L. Donaldson, 56, of North Bloomfield, Ohio, who is charged with three counts each of theft, conspiracy to commit theft and possessing instruments of crime.
The hearing will continue at 8:30 a.m. Aug. 6.
Defense attorney James Manolis of New Castle pressed for Antos to see the video, arguing it would be better for Antos to conclude for himself whether it is Donaldson shown in the video taken April 27 from Tic Toc Food Mart’s BP station at 4185 E. State St.
“The person in the video looks like Larry Donaldson,” Hermitage police detective Joel Ristvey testified.
Ristvey’s interpretation of the video boosts what is largely a circumstantial case against Donaldson by apparently placing him at the scene when one of the thefts occurred.
Evidence presented Wednesday included the results of a search of Donaldson’s property, where police found a pickup and trailer matching the vehicles seen in two videos; and testimony from Donaldson’s nephew, Derek Markley, 25, of Cortland, Ohio, who said Donaldson had asked him on Dec. 8, 2005, to help him steal fuel, and then “chased” him off Donaldson’s Trumbull County property a day later when Markley refused.
Despite disputing Ristvey’s identification, Manolis also got the detective to say he didn’t know whether Donaldson possessed the truck on the days of the thefts.
Joel Segura, former district manager for Tic Toc’s parent company, testified that he was ready to chalk up a 1,000-gallon discrepancy in the underground storage tank readings on July 15, 2005, to a paperwork error until checks showed the pumps were working fine, the machinery that monitors the tanks appeared to be working, and he concluded the diesel had to have been stolen.
The apparent theft was reported to police Aug. 22, and Tic Toc installed exterior surveillance cameras and a lock on the diesel fuel storage tank cap, Segura said.
The next theft occurred Oct. 9, 2005. Segura said he and a mechanic discovered the tank cap and lock could easily be pried off with a crow bar.
Surveillance video showed a two-tone red pickup with a white stripe pulling a gooseneck, two-axle blue trailer with a two-tone rear door driving in from North Keel Ridge Road and stopping over the underground storage tanks. No one gets out of the truck, the trailer can be seen to rock slightly several times, and the truck drives away, heading westbound on East State Street, after 13 or 14 minutes, Ristvey said.
Ristvey added he could see a front and rear license plate, and the colors led him to conclude the plates were from Ohio.
Tic Toc Food Mart Vice President Diann Moore said 1,026 gallons of fuel worth $2,550 was missing on July 15, 2005; 1,034 gallons for $2,948 on Oct. 9, 2005; and 1,029 gallons for $4,329 on April 27.
Police said the trailer had a trap door with rubber skirting around it, a steel tank and hoses that led to the trap door, a vacuum pump in the truck bed and the truck’s engine to supply power for the pump. Manolis successfully argued that Ristvey and Capt. Eric Jewell were not experts and could not testify as to how the pump system worked.
Police solicited news coverage of the thefts and one story prompted a caller on May 27. Ristvey said the caller told him Donaldson was the person perpetrating the thefts and had the trailer.
Manolis asked for the identity of the caller, but Assistant District Attorney David Ristvey said the name did not have to be disclosed because the information was not being offered for its truth, only to show how police came to focus on Donaldson. Ristvey said Manolis can ask a judge to order the release of the caller’s name if the case makes it to Mercer County Common Pleas Court.
The caller also said Markley knew about Donaldson’s illegal activities. Markley said Donaldson had just bailed him out of Ashtabula (Ohio) County Jail and asked him to help with stealing fuel.
Donaldson showed Markley the trailer and the tank inside.
“He sucked diesel fuel from underground tanks,” Markley said his uncle told him. “He said he had done it before and there was no chance of getting caught.”
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