A Fayetteville man says he actually caught someone in the act, stealing to steal gas from Meals on Wheels trucks. Dale Oxford says he often has trouble sleeping at night, which is why he was sitting out on his front porch around 4 A.M. Wednesday. That's when he says he spotted a man walking down South College carrying a bag over his shoulder. "He looked like he was about 20-25 years old, I couldn't tell what nationality he was, it was still a little dark." Oxford says the man walked in between the Meals on Wheels trucks at the Fayetteville Senior Activity Center. "I heard something making a noise you know, I said wait a minute, I believe he's siphoning gas out of one of those vans. I waited a few minutes, he stepped out behind the van and started up South College." He says the man quickly returned... and this time spotted Oxford and mumbled something to him about a car. The man then walked across the street to an apartment complex and took off a few minutes later. "He was kind of a little bit scared and went down the road and he didn't want to come back and get his cans." Sure enough, the man left behind this gas can, with a 6-foot siphoning hose inside. "Evidently he went to the apartments and he was evidently going to steal some gas and somebody ran him off, he saw the light come on." Police say the gas theif managed to siphon 15 to 20 gallons of gas out of a Meals on Wheels Truck.
