An Arlington man has been cuffed and two others are still on the lam following a spree of diesel thefts that spanned the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Yurisman Martinez-Del Risco, 28, fell into the hands of law enforcement after being nabbed for speeding in Celina, Texas, on the first day of the new year.
Authorities uncovered the illicit operation after the EZ Mart Convenience Store in Cooper reported a loss of a whopping 1,900 gallons of diesel, valued at about $7,200. The Delta County Sheriff's Office revealed that the heist took place in the wee hours of November 21, with the perps caught on camera employing a rigged device to siphon the fuel. The roving bandits didn't stop there; they hit stores in Commerce and Paris, unloading diesel over three successive days. The thefts underscore a broader pattern of criminal behavior reaching across the metroplex, as noted by the MyParisTexas.com report.
After Martinez-Del Risco's arrest, a labor of multiple agencies pieced together the puzzle, and two more suspects were tagged in the investigation. Pedro Julio Ruiz Llanes, a 32-year-old Cuban citizen, remains elusive with potential ties to Miami and California. Meanwhile, Dallas resident Eric Flores, 35, has also vanished into thin air, leaving behind his association with the stolen goods and the commercial box truck used in the thefts, as cited by the Irving Weekly.
Digging deeper, the threads of the theft ring extend into Erath and Collin counties, with warrants for grand theft and engaging in organized crime tacked onto their rap sheets. Martinez-Del Risco finds himself incarcerated at Delta County Jail, his freedom priced at $200,000 bond. The Delta County Sheriff’s Office urges anyone with a lead on Ruiz Llanes or Flores to call their hotline at (903)395-2146 and help tighten the net that justice casts upon those who run from it.
