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Michael Cordones-Lopez, 24, and Patricio Cardones-Molina, 61, were arrested this week after officers spotted them breaking into grease dumpsters behind local eateries, including the Filmore Silver Spring and Amina Thai, according to the Montgomery County Police Department.
The investigation determined that at around 2:20 a.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 17, officers were conducting an overnight criminal enforcement detail in downtown Silver Spring when they observed a gray Ford E-350 van driving on Mayor Lane, which is an alley behind several restaurants.
Inside were Cordones-Lopez and Cardones-Molina, both sporting masks before getting out and looking inside several grease dumpsters and driving away.
Officers followed the suspects to an alley to the rear of the Filmore Silver Spring in the 8600 block of Colesville Road, where the suspects got out of the van and used a prybar to break open a locked grease dumpster.
They then watched the pair remove used cooking oil from the dumpster using a generator powered siphon, which transferred the oil into large tanks inside of the van.
The suspects then broke into another grease dumpster in the same alley and removed used cooking oil that belongs to the Amina Thai Silver Spring restaurant.
As the suspects were leaving the scene, officers pulled them over and took them into custody.
According to police, restaurants sell used cooking oil for biodiesel production, though the value of the oil varies by volume, with one victim stating that they sell the oil for upwards of $2.38 per pound and that they have had approximately 20,000 pounds of oil stolen from restaurants around the DMV region recently.
Cordones-Lopez and Cardones-Molina were charged with fourth-degree burglary and three counts o theft under $100. Both were later released on personal bonds.
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