Kingsessing man charged with stealing diesel fuel from pump at Wawa

THE DRIVER OF a bakery truck that sat in a Southwest Philly Wawa parking lot for nearly 40 minutes wasn't delivering bread - but police say he had dough in mind.

Police on Monday arrested Keith Jones, 55, of Kingsessing, on charges that he stole 513 gallons of diesel fuel worth about $2,000 from the Wawa at Bartram and Island avenues on Feb. 4.

Jones, operating a Stroehmann bread-delivery truck he'd purchased at an auction about two weeks earlier, siphoned the gas from a station ground pump into a large storage tank, police said.

"Around the same time, a real Stroehmann truck pulled up to do a delivery," Lt. John Walker, of the Southwest Detective Division, said. "We're not sure if he used [the bread truck] as a ruse or not."

When Jones drove the truck away, it appeared to be weighted down, police said.

Surveillance video from the store showed the truck, but not its license plate. After police released details of the case, a tip placed the truck in Camden.

Authorities tracked the truck to a location in the city where Jones stores an 18-wheeler he uses in his work as an independent contractor, police said.

"What we believe he was doing was [stealing gas] for economic gain," Walker said, adding that the gas likely was used for Jones' truck.

When recovering the bread truck, police found an electric generator and a hose that fits the vehicle's gas port, Walker said.

Jones is charged with two counts of theft, criminal mischief and possessing an instrument of crime.