Fresno Police find trailer set up to steal fuel from gas stations, two suspects arrested

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Two suspects are in custody linked to gas thefts in Northeast Fresno.

Police were driving on Highway 41 early Thursday morning when they noticed a truck without a rear license plate pulling a trailer.

They ran the plate on the trailer, and it came back as stolen.

Officers followed the truck as it got off onto Bullard, eventually pulling it over.

Police found a handgun at First and Bond, which they believe may have been tossed out of the vehicle.

In the trailer, they found a liquid tank full of gasoline.

Officers say the truck matched the description of a vehicle involved in previous gas thefts.

They say it appears that the trailer had been rigged up to allow someone to pull it over the fill lids for the underground tanks at a gas station, and drop a hose down through the floor of the trailer and into the tank.

An electric pump pulled gas out from the station's supply and filled the tank in the trailer.

Both the driver and a passenger were taken into custody.