Two men were charged with burglary after allegedly stealing used cooking oil from two restaurants in downtown Silver Spring on Tuesday, according to a statement from Montgomery County police.
The suspects—later identified as Michael Cordones-Lopez, 24, and Patricio Cardones-Molina, 61—were allegedly spotted by police around 2:20 a.m. driving a Ford E-350 van in an alley behind businesses, according to police. The men got out of the van and looked inside several grease dumpsters before driving away, police say.
Police followed the pair to an alley behind The Filmore Silver Spring in the 8600 block of Colesville Road, where the suspects again got out of the van and used a prybar to break open a locked grease dumpster, the statement said. According to the statement, officers watched while the suspects removed the oil with a siphon. The suspects allegedly broke into another oil dumpster in the same alley and stole used cooking oil that belonged to the Amina Thai Silver Spring restaurant. The Filmore and a manager for the Amina Thai restaurant couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.
According to the statement, the pair were taken into custody by police as they began to leave the scene. Cordones-Lopez and Cardones-Molina are both charged with fourth-degree burglary and three counts of theft under $100, according to online court records. Both men are residents of Yonkers, New York, according to online court records.
After searching the van, police said they located the stolen oil and equipment used in the crime. Restaurants can sell used cooking oil to companies to make biodiesel fuel and other products, but the value of cost varies by gallon or by pound according to the statement.
Cordones-Lopez and Cardones-Molina have been released from the Montgomery County Central Processing Unit on $5,000 and $300 unsecured personal bonds. As of Friday afternoon, online court records didn’t have lawyers listed for the pair.
