Florida troopers find credit card skimmer, hidden tank to steal diesel fuel in 18-wheeler
Two men from Bradenton and Lehigh Acres have been arrested and accused of skimming credit cards and stealing diesel fuel using a hidden tank in an 18-wheeler.
Juan Alfredo Escalona Hidalgo, 33, from Bradenton, and Raul Torralba, 42, from Lehigh Acres near Fort Myers, face charges of larceny, fraud, resisting without violence, unlawful conveyance of fuel, and grand theft auto.
Florida Highway Patrol troopers suspected the two were involved in an earlier theft, and stopped the truck they were in at 9:36 a.m. Monday, FHP said in a news release.
Hidalgo was driving a 2016 Freightliner truck with Torralba as a passenger when troopers “initiated a traffic stop” at a Pilot Gas Station at 6054 Plaza Drive in Fort Myers.
They suspected the two men had stolen diesel fuel and credit cards from a different location on another day.
After inspecting the truck, troopers discovered it was reported stolen out of Miami and it had illegal welded fuel tanks with diesel fuel inside.
They also found a credit card skimmer, multiple stolen credit cards and a laptop.
Both men were taken to the Lee County Jail.
