Two Men Arrested for Stealing Used Cooking Oil

For Immediate Release: Friday, December 20, 2024

Gaithersburg, MD – Officers from the Montgomery County Department of Police – 5th and 3rd District Special Assignment Teams have arrested and charged 24-year-old Michael Cordones-Lopez and 61-year-old Patricio Cardones-Molina with the thefts of used cooking oil that occurred on Tuesday, December 17, 2024, at two restaurants in downtown Silver Spring.

The investigation has revealed that at approximately 2:20 a.m., officers were conducting an overnight criminal enforcement detail in downtown Silver Spring when they observed a gray Ford E-350 van driving on Mayor Lane, which is an alley behind several restaurants. The van was occupied by two suspects, later identified as Cordones-Lopez and Cardones-Molina, who were wearing masks. The suspects got out of the van, looked inside several grease dumpsters and drove away.

Officers followed the suspects to an alley to the rear of the Filmore Silver Spring in the 8600 block of Colesville Road, where the suspects got out of the van and used a prybar to break open a locked grease dumpster . Officers watched the suspects remove used cooking oil from the dumpster using a generator powered siphon, which transferred the oil into large tanks inside of the van . The suspects then broke into another grease dumpster in the same alley and removed used cooking oil that belongs to the Amina Thai Silver Spring restaurant . As the suspects were leaving the scene, officers pulled them over and took them into custody.

Officers subsequently searched the van and located the stolen oil and associated equipment used in the crime. Restaurants sell used cooking oil to companies that make biodiesel fuel and other products. The value of used cooking oil varies by gallon or by pound. One victim in this case stated that they sell the oil for upwards of $2.38 per pound and that they have had approximately 20,000 pounds of oil stolen from restaurants around the DMV region recently.

Cordones-Lopez and Cardones-Molina were transported to the Montgomery County Central Processing Unit, where they were charged with fourth degree burglary and three counts of theft under $100. Cordones-Lopez and Cardones-Molina have been released on $5,000 and $300 unsecured personal bonds.