Rash of AA thieves arrested

Eaton, Ohio-A sheriff’s deputy on routine patrol at a local Crop Production Services location got a whiff of anhydrous ammonia and could hear a tank hissing, which led to the arrest early on Jan. 6 of two suspects apparently trying to make off with more than a few pounds of the chemical. Preble County Deputy Paul Plaugher spotted the tank, which he described as much larger than the usual gas grill size, and then saw a hose running from one of the nurse tanks. “I radioed my dispatch to tell them it was a theft in progress and then saw two guys running through an adjacent corn field toward some railroad tracks,” Plaugher related. He said he drove as far as he could, then chased them on foot and caught one of them. The other got away, but was nabbed at a state patrol traffic stop. Although the two posted bail a couple of days later, they still face charges of anhydrous ammonia theft and one faces possession of criminal tools, including all kinds of gear used to tamper with tanks. The last few weeks have been fairly productive in at least two other locations in thwarting anhydrous thefts. In the Morganfield, Ky., area, a sheriff’s deputy trailed a woman acting strangely in a Wal-Mart parking lot at 4:30 in the morning to a spot where she was picking up two men suspected of raiding an anhydrous tank earlier at a nearby CPS. “We’ve had it happen several places in the county and we’re kind of watching for more attempts. She had dropped off the pair and was supposed to pick them up,” Sheriff Mike Thompson told Green Markets. Thompson said the three attempted to get away, but were stopped. In Sumner County, Kan., deputies spotted a suspicious individual late in the evening apparently trying to siphon from one of the tanks at Two River Co-op in Geuda Springs. Figuring he would be picked up shortly by an accomplice, deputies waited and then made the arrest when the accomplice was nabbed in a traffic stop. Both face charges of possession of anhydrous ammonia in an unapproved container, misdemeanor theft, and manufacturing of a controlled substance.