2 men accused of attempting to steal cooking oil from Collier County Publix storage tank

COLLIER COUNTY, Fla. —

Two men are accused of attempting to steal cooking oil from a Publix, according to the Collier County Sheriff's Office.

An arrest report says that deputies were patrolling the Publix plaza on Collier Boulevard and Immokalee Road on Tuesday when they saw a pump truck drive past. The report adds that two men got out of the truck and attached a green hose to the cooking oil storage tank, which ran into a storage container on the truck.

Deputies stopped the vehicle, and the two men, Osvaldo Rodolfo Iznaga Marquez, 48, and Julio Cesar Gomez Borges, 58, were detained for questioning.

The report says that when asked what the two men were doing at the Publix, Marquez said that they were picking up the oil that was going to be on their route the next day. It adds that when deputies asked to see any proof of the pickup job, Marquez could not provide any.

Employees of the Publix told deputies that the company that comes to pick up the cooking oil does so during normal working hours, in a marked truck, and hands the manager documentation of how much oil was picked up.

CCSO says that during questioning Borges told deputies that he was a brand new employee and was training under Marquez, and that they worked for a company called "GreaseBeast". When asked how he knew to come to the Publix, he said that he did not know, and that he was only under training and following Marquez.

Both men were arrested on a loitering or prowling charge and issued a trespass warning from the Publix.

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