Pair caught siphoning gas in Kennesaw

A van parked outside a closed Cobb County day care center proved too tempting for two alleged gas thieves who were caught red-handed by Kennesaw police over the weekend siphoning gas from the van.

A passerby became suspicious and called police around 10 p.m. Saturday after noticing a white sport-utility vehicle parked in the lot at North Cobb Academy on Ellison Lakes Drive, Kennesaw police spokesman Scott Luther said.

“When the officer pulled into the parking lot, he saw two individuals standing next to one of the multi-passenger vans that they have,” Luther said. “When [the suspects] noticed the officer coming in, they started pulling the hose out of the gas tank.”

Police arrested Joshua Anderson and Florencio Elacio, and charged each with theft and having tools of a crime.

Luther said that while there have been a couple of other recent reports of gas being siphoned from vehicles in the area, investigators had not tied Anderson and Elacio to any other thefts.