Watch CBS News

Thieves Stealing Cooking Oil From North Shore Restaurants

ESSEX (CBS) - Police are trying to track down some slick thieves who are stealing cooking oil from several North Shore restaurants.

Essex Police Chief Peter Silva says the crooks are stealing the cooking oil from containers outside restaurants.

Fortune Palace, The Windward Grille and Lewis's Restaurant are the latest targets, along with a restaurant in Ipswich; all of them hit this week.

WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Ben Parker reports

Podcast

Phil Bruno, general manager at American Byproducts in Lynn, a company that normally collects the oil for recycling, says the oil in those tanks is worth a lot of money.

"Bottom line, it's worth money and there's a lot of people that think they're either going to get rich or save a fortune heating their house or running their diesel vehicles on cooking oil after its processed," said Bruno.

Bruno puts the price of the cooking oil as high as $1,000.

These cooking oil thefts mark the second string of similar thefts from some of the same establishments this year.

So far, no one has been arrested in any of the oil thefts.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.