La Porte City, Iowa-The Black Hawk County sheriff’s office is looking to “theft-proof” the 25 or 30 anhydrous ammonia nurse tanks at a local farm service after one suspect was arrested in connection with a theft attempt late last month. Another suspect is still being sought. “It’s a facility like any other place in the country where we’ve had a continuous problem,” reported Deputy Steve Petersen about New Century Farm Service, where officers on patrol interrupted a man early one morning trying to fill a 20-pound cylinder from one of the tanks. Petersen said this one got away, but La Porte City police located a car that was believed to have been involved in the theft and arrested the female driver on charges of possession of a drug precursor, possession of drug paraphernalia, and tampering with anhydrous. They also found a cylinder that had been modified to hold anhydrous in a ditch near the business. “We caught her driving in the area but since then we’ve not be able to make further arrests,” Petersen said. “Since then we have been in the process of getting the facility locked back up.” Petersen said they’ve looking at an assortment of security systems, including Tanks-A-Lok, which was in use on the tank in Olin last month that released an ammonia cloud on local residents when thieves fled an open tank.
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