The incident took place in Darien around 4 a.m., on Friday, April 22.
The two were nabbed when a Darien officer was traveling on Post Road in front of Nino’s Restaurant when he spotted an older white van being backed into the rear of the restaurant without any lights on, said Sgt. Dan Skoumbros, of the Darien Police.
The officer heard a generator being started from the van and a hose running from the van into a container along the fence, he added.
When the two men were approached by officers they removed the hose from the container and put it back in the van, Skoumbros said.
An investigation determined that the hose was in a cooking oil vat to the restaurant and the suspects were siphoning cooking oil from the business illegally, police said.
The suspects, identified as Olin Muldrow, age 31, and Shakim Makins, age 25, both of Staten Island, were transported to headquarters and charged with larceny and conspiracy to larceny.
Both were released on a $1,000 bond.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Torrington and receive free news updates.