California Highway Patrol in Northern California arrested a driver for attempting to transport 285 gallons of diesel in a minivan.
“We understand fuel prices are going up, but this is not the way to stock up on fuel,” CHP Oroville posted on their Facebook page this week. “This minivan had five containers totaling 285 gallons of diesel fuel in the back of it. For obvious reasons this is highly illegal and dangerous. Hazmat situation avoided phewwww. Driver arrested and vehicle impounded.”
After receiving some backlash over seizing the costly fuel, CHP published some background on the man’s arrest:
Photos: CHP Oroville“The reason the driver transporting the diesel was arrested is because when we first contacted him we gave him a verbal yet lawful order not to transport that much fuel. Additionally we provided him resources to help him transport the fuel. He was told not to move the vehicle from the fuel station until the vehicle was in compliance. As soon as we left, he pulled out from the fuel station and was stopped again. He was arrested for disobeying a lawful order. Hope this clears things up.”
The post generated quite a bit of discussion centering around diesel transport regulations and, of course, California’s costly diesel prices which rank among the highest in the country; last week prices averaged $4 a gallon according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. One driver posted that he buys his diesel in bulk in neighboring Arizona.
“When I have to drive into Cali I fill all my tanks, my 32 gallon and 150 gallon up in Kingman, Ariz. which will my Ram 3500 all the way to Bakersfield and back to Kingman so I don’t have to pay your fuel prices,” Adam McAdoo posted.
