Three people from Worcester are facing felony charges after Beverly police say they caught them red-handed, hose in hand, siphoning used cooking oil from two Cabot Street restaurants early Saturday morning. Officers found the group next to a rented van on Cox Court, where investigators say a pump and three large storage tanks were loaded inside, ready to haul away grease worth an estimated $2,750.
The arrests capped off a chain of neighborhood vigilance that started when a nearby resident noticed a suspicious group lingering outside a Cabot Street business near its cooking-oil storage containers, according to NBC Boston. That neighbor alerted the business owner, who then reviewed surveillance footage before calling police. The oil had been taken from containers behind Anchor Pub & Grille and Beverly House of Pizza, two longtime neighborhood eateries that sit side by side near the Essex Bridge and keep their storage tanks along Cox Court, as reported by CBS News.
According to Boston 25 News, the neighbor actually snapped a photo of the rental van with a hose running directly into one of the restaurant's storage tanks before flagging down the owner, who then pulled up the remote camera footage and dialed 911. That timeline of quick, camera-assisted detection is what let officers arrive while the trio was still working the hose — and still on scene to be arrested.
Fire Crews Called In Over Spill Risk
Beverly police identified the suspects as 18-year-old Jassiel Benitez Diaz along with a 17-year-old and a 16-year-old, all residents of Worcester — a city more than 50 miles west of Beverly, according to the Beverly Police Department. Worcester is more than 50 miles west of Beverly.
The Beverly Fire Department was also dispatched to the scene on Cox Court, where crews inspected the rental van's liquid pump and tanks and worked to contain a cooking oil spill before the vehicle was towed, per the Beverly Police Department. The response underscores how makeshift siphoning setups can create real environmental hazards even when the underlying theft seems minor on its face.
Charges Carry Felony Weight
All three suspects were charged with larceny from a building, receiving stolen property over $1,200, and use of a motor vehicle in a felony or larceny. Benitez Diaz, as the only adult in the group, was additionally charged with unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle. Larceny from a building is punishable under Massachusetts General Law Chapter 266, Section 20, by up to five years in state prison or two years in a house of correction. The receiving-stolen-property charge applies to property valued over $1,200.
Beverly Police Chief John G. Lelacheur praised the neighbor's alert to both the business owner and police, saying the quick action allowed officers to respond while the individuals were still present — resulting in all three being taken into custody.
Why Grease Has Become a Target
Used cooking oil is collected and recycled into products like biofuel, and authorities say thieves increasingly try to sell it on the black market instead. Demand for renewable diesel feedstocks has also been rising; Reiter USA reports yellow grease recently traded around 21 to 41 cents per pound. Those prices translate into restaurant rebate values of roughly 25 to 75 cents per gallon — money that independent restaurants lose out on when their tanks are drained by thieves instead of their contracted haulers, as Environment+Energy Leader notes.
Nationally, the North American Renderers Association estimates that used cooking oil theft costs businesses between $300 million and $500 million annually, according to Baker Commodities.
