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When a clerk working at the Circle K located at 1802 West Union Hills Drive received an alarm activation indicating the business was losing a large volume of gasoline, there was immediate suspicion. The alert clerk remembered a security flyer that had been generated by Circle K indicating that a white van was possibly involved in the theft of large quantities of fuel. The clerk looked outside and observed a white Chevy van and a white Nissan Altima parked over the fuel tanks. At around 12:30 a.m., on February 22, the clerk immediately called 911 regarding the possible theft. Officers arrived at the business within about a minute and quickly detained two suspects, 36 year-old Jarad Desanti and George Brabakos, 38.
Officers saw fuel leaking from the van and the Phoenix Fire “HazMat” team was called. Firefighters breeched the locked doors of the van and discovered a third suspect, Robert Jeter, 35, who had apparently succumbed to gasoline fumes and had passed out. Jeter was transported to a local hospital where he later regained consciousness.
The van was parked over the underground fuel tank of the business and the Nissan Altima was parked near it with its hood up. This setup made it appear as if the car was having engine problems and the van was providing help; however, the van was equipped with a false floor, siphoning equipment, specialized equipment to breech the underground fuel pod, and a tank capable of holding up to 450 gallons of gasoline. At the time of discovery, the tank had been filled with approximately 200 gallons and the siphoning equipment was still in the ground tank.
Detectives later learned, through follow up investigation, that the same van and suspects had been involved in a similar fuel theft at another Circle K store. The three suspects were later booked into the Fourth Avenue Jail for armed burglary due to the fact that, upon serving a search warrant on the Nissan, police discovered a handgun inside the vehicle.
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