Thief caught on camera stealing gas from FortisBC work trucks on in the Commonage Road

Video surveillance in the Commonage Road area caught an individual stealing diesel from FortisBC vehicles.

Fortis trucks have been parked along Carr’s Landing Road in Lake Country while they continue working on extending a new gas line between Kelowna and Vernon.

The resident whose cameras captured the incident says Fortis approached him, stating they were confused about why their trucks were empty when they arrived at the site in the morning.

The resident agreed to go through his security footage and found images showing a person pull up to the side of the road on Oct. 24 at 9 p.m. in a white pickup.

The person can be seen turning the vehicle off and turning the lights on. They can also be seen tucking behind the truck anytime a vehicle would drive by.

The Fortis trucks are out of frame in the video, however, the suspect can be seen filling up their gas tank from a jerry can after presumably syphoning fuel from the work vehicles.

The video shows the individual walk out of frame and return, appearing to be holding something and bringing it to their truck.

At one point, the individual appears to load two items into the flatbed of the pickup.

The individual can be seen returning around 12:30 a.m. Monday, however the video does not show anything beyond them parking at the same spot as the time before.

FortisBC spokesperson Nicole Brown says the utility has been made aware of the situation and will be filing a report to RCMP, along with the video footage.

“Our first priority is safety and making sure the equipment is working properly,” says Brown.

She said Fortis plans to look into increasing security in the area while crews continue the work on the gas line.