Posted by Travis Uresk | May 4th, 2023 | Theft |
By Travis Uresk
5/4/23
Duchesne Co.- On 4/23/23, law enforcement responded to a theft call, and the reporting party was a representative for a gas company from Kinder Morgan Inc. The caller stated they had problems with this person before unlawfully tapping into their natural gas pipelines stealing gas.
The representative stated that someone suspected that 55-year-old Jeffery Q. Tucker had drilled a small hole into their gas line and tapped into it with a small black hose or tubing that led into Jeffery's property towards his house. The gas pipeline right of way is next to Jeffery's property, separated by a fence.
It was believed that Jeffery ran a small hose from the main gas line to a utility trailer. The estimated damage cost was around $5000, and the gas stolen was estimated to be around $60.
Deputy Mathews confirmed with the Duchesne County Tax Parcel Viewer mapping that the small illegal hose was running to the property that belonged to Jeffery Tucker.
On 4/27/23, Deputy Mathews went to Jeffery's property, where piping construction workers were on site. They pointed to the small hose that went into the utility trailer they thought was the illegal tubing that was tapped into the pipeline. On the utility trailer was a small hole drilled into the side of it.
After a close inspection, this wasn't a hose but a coaxial cable.
Jeffery had tenants that resided on his property in a mobile home located on the opposite side of Jeffery's house from the utility trailer with the mistaken hose. Deputy Mathews spoke with the individual in the mobile home, and he stated that Jeffery resided in the house and, most likely, at home.
The Deputy knocked on Jeffery's door and wouldn't answer. The tenant also stated he didn't know to have any knowledge of any illegal tap into the gas line.
Deputy Mathews met with the Kinder Morgan Rep. And collected a portion of the small black hose that he stated was illegally tapped into the gas pipeline. This tubing was about 1/4" in diameter.
Deputy Mathews and other law enforcement personnel returned to Jeffery's property to serve an approved search warrant on his property and the utility trailer. They checked the black line going into the utility trailer and learned it was an antenna coaxial cable. The construction workers mistakenly thought at a distance was a small black hose that was illegally tapped into the gas line.
Jeffery met with law enforcement and opened his trailer, where they found no evidence of illegal tapping of natural gas. Jeffery denied tapping into the gas line and was trying to put the blame on his tenants. The tenants denied tapping into the gas line as well. Deputy Mathews checked their RV and propane tanks and found no evidence of illegal tapping.
One of the tenants informed Deputy Mathews that after the recent illegal gas line tapping was discovered, she saw Jeffery moving several lines and hoses around his house. She indicated Jeffery was trying to cover up any evidence of this illegal tapping. She stated she believed Jeffery was using natural gas for his generator.
The female took the Deputy to where the generator was located in a shed. Next to the generator, he found a several-foot length of black tubing consistent with the tubing that was illegally tapped into the gas line or a propane tank.
The tenants also showed Deputy Mathews evidence of a second and older illegal gas line on Jefferey's property that led to his house. This line appeared to have been removed recently, but the track line was still visible. The track line to Jefferey's house of the illegal gas line was also visible. This was much like the new recent illegal line tapping. Deputy Mathews also saw evidence of conduit for the tubing tapped into the older gas line that led to Jeffery's house.
Behind Jefferey's house was a 5-gallon propane tank that was a few feet from his home on the ground with the same tubing that was illegally tapped into the gas line into the valve connector. It appeared this propane tank was being used to be filled with natural gas from the Kinder Morgan gas line.
Jefferey mentioned the possibility that someone (not him) could have used the illegally tapped line to fill the propane tank. He denied the propane tank was his, but it was very close to his house and not anywhere close to the tenant's RV.
Deputy Mathews also saw black tubing going into Jefferey's house from the outside wall, consistent with the other illegal use of the gas line tapping. Deputy Mathews asked Jefferey about this, and he didn't know why that was there. He allowed the deputies into his home, and they couldn't find the other end of the tubing.
One of the tenants told the deputies that their brother told her that Jefferey had tapped into the gas line, but this was a while ago, before the recent illegal tapping. This brother was now in prison and reportedly had gone to prison last year in March and is still in prison. This brother was also reported living in Jefferey's house and may have seen Jefferey illegally stealing the natural gas.
Jefferey was arrested and booked into the Duchesne County Jail.
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