Man accused of stealing over $11K worth of gas in Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5/Gray News) - A man is accused of stealing over 2,500 gallons of gas, according to an arrest report from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.

According to police, Terrible Herbst corporate security notified authorities of a diesel fuel shortage at the company’s gas station in Jean near State Route 161.

Terrible Herbst corporate reported they were missing 684 gallons of diesel on July 20, valued at $3,146. The company stated they were also missing 1,818 gallons of diesel on July 21 that was valued at $8,385.

The company told police that the door to open one of its pumps was pried open and a Pulsar device was observed inside.

Police said a Pulsar device is used to alter the computer so it doesn’t track the correct amount of fuel that’s being dispensed. “This allows the suspect to pump fuel and not be charged the full and correct amount for it,” police wrote in the arrest report.

Security footage showed three vehicles pumping fuel at a specific fuel pump for long periods of time. The security company sent a photo to police that showed a white box truck nearby.

“[Detective] having worked on similar cases immediately noticed the vehicle to be involved in other fuel thefts around the Las Vegas Valley, and knew it to be used in other fuel thefts across Nevada and may have also been used in fuel thefts in Arizona,” Las Vegas police said in the report.

The report indicates that security called police to alert them of the possible active fuel theft when the white box truck pulled up to the same pump and began fueling.

Police arrived at the scene and spoke with the suspect, identified as Miguel Fernandez-Alvarez, who admitted to authorities that he owned the truck and had installed large fuel cells in the vehicle in order to collect fuel.

The report also stated that Fernandez-Alvarez was in possession of a key fob that controlled the Pulsar device installed on the pump.

Fernandez-Alvarez is currently facing charges of felony use/access/interference computers and disregard for safety.

According to police, he “opened a vehicle designed outside the manufactured designs and standards to store and transport a flammable and hazardous liquid, diesel fuel, with disregard for public safety measures, and the fact that he had inside of his truck multiple containers carrying hundreds of gallons of fuel which was not stored to DOT standards.”

The report notes that additional charges will be filed for the theft of the fuel in the amount constituting a felony when Terrible Herbst can produce the exact amount of fuel that was pumped out by Fernandez-Alvarez while he was using the Pulsar device on July 23.