A man was arrested early Wednesday morning after a St. Mary’s County deputy said he witnessed him attempting to breach a grease dumpster behind a Lexington Park restaurant.
Hamsel Lugo Peralta, 19, of Silver Spring, Maryland, told deputies that he was taking used grease from a Valley Proteins dumpster, and that he had already taken from another nearby grease dumpster at a Pizza Boli’s restaurant, which had two locks broken.
Peralta told deputies that he was able to open the top of the Pizza Boli’s dumpster and insert a hose, which sucked the grease out into one of two 330-gallon containers inside of his vehicle. He was stopped by Deputy First Class Phillip Henry during a premise check at the shopping center before he could obtain the grease from the second dumpster.
According to the , the two containers’ worth of grease would be worth $3,000 after sale.
Peralta was transported to the St. Mary’s County Detention and Rehabilitation Center in Leonardtown; he faces several theft and destruction charges.
