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Dwan Myles, 46, of Newark did his best not to be noticed, even convincing an employee of his that they were legitimately collecting a drum of oil from a restaurant in Lyndhurst, authorities allege.
Myles then turned around and sold the oil to a recycling company, Police Detective Lt. Vincent Auteri said.
The owner of a Stuyvesant Avenue business called police after a surveillance camera captured video of both men loading a drum of oil into a passenger van early one morning, the lieutenant said.
Detective Chris Cuneo identified Myles and began looking for him. Hearing this, Myles surrendered to police, Auteri said.
Myles was charged with burglary and theft before being released pending a first appearance in Central Judicial Processing Court in Hackensack.
His employee – who Auteri said believed the restaurant was a client -- wasn’t charged.
Used cooking oil, which is legally collected and turned into biodiesel, has come to be known as “liquid gold,” especially when gas prices are high.
Thieves will always find buyers for the spent, reusable oil, which they can flip for up to thousands of dollars. It’s better than selling drugs, some law enforcement officials have said.
The last extended stretch of cooking oil thefts occurred from 2014 through 2017, when skyrocketing oil prices made it the new copper for petty thieves.
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