Trumbull County man arrested in theft of diesel fuel

HERMITAGE, Pa. — A Trumbull County business owner is charged with using a truck trailer with a hidden vacuum system to steal 3,000 gallons of diesel fuel from a Pennsylvania convenience store.

Police in Hermitage, Pa., have charged 56-year-old Larry Donaldson of North Bloomfield, Ohio, with theft, conspiracy and possessing instruments of crime — in this case, a pickup truck trailer containing the vacuum. Police say the device was powered by the truck’s engine, and a hose was lowered through a trap door in the trailer into underground diesel tanks at store.

Police say Donaldson stole the fuel on April 27, and twice in 2005.

Donaldson has an unlisted phone number. The asphalt and trucking company owner has been a suspect since police found the trailer on his property last month.