Pair Suspected of Stealing About $30,000 of Diesel Fuel Free From Jail

COACHELLA (CNS) – Two men accused of stealing about $30,000 worth of diesel fuel in Coachella were free from jail on $30,000 bail bonds Wednesday.

Anthony Aguilar Franco of Indio was released from jail Wednesday and 40-year-old Gerardo Morales Baldenegro of Mecca was released Tuesday, according to inmate records.

Deputies responded at around 11:20 a.m. Sunday to the 48000 block of Avenue 48 to a report of diesel fuel theft, according to Sgt. Thomas Anderson of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.

Anderson said video surveillance cameras captured portions of approximately $30,000 worth of diesel fuel being stolen over a two-week period.

The Thermal sheriff’s station Coachella Community Action Team assumed the investigation and identified Baldenegro and Franco as the suspects, according to Anderson. On Tuesday, Baldenegro was arrested in the 54000 block of Harrison Street in an unincorporated area of Riverside County near Thermal while Franco was arrested in the 45000 block of Commerce Street in Indio.

They were both booked into the John J. Benoit Detention Center in Indio on suspicion of burglary, conspiracy and grand theft, Anderson said.

Anyone with information on the alleged theft was asked to call Deputy Yadira Perez of the Thermal sheriffs station at 760-863-8447 or Valley Crime Stoppers anonymously at 760-341-7867 (STOP).

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