[StBernard] Suspected cooking oil bandits hit same Chalmette restaurant twice; get arrested, sheriff says

[Westley Annis]

Suspected cooking oil bandits hit same Chalmette restaurant twice; get
arrested, sheriff says

Print Chris Grillot, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune By Chris Grillot,
NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune 
on August 23, 2014 at 6:09 PM, updated August 23, 2014 at 6:32 PM

The St. Bernard Sheriff's Office arrested two men Thursday after authorities
said they stole 150 gallons of used cooking oil from a Chalmette restaurant
and returned for more later the same day. 

Deputies arrested Gregory Blanton, 43, and Jason Allen, 30, both of New
Orleans. 

Blanton and Allen stole about $90 worth of used cooking oil from the
restaurant in the 2100 block of East Judge Perez Drive around 4:15 a.m.
Thursday, police said. The owner of the restaurant contacted authorities and
let them watch a surveillance video of the crime.

Later that day, a deputy on patrol saw a truck matching a description of a
vehicle from the surveillance video backing into the rear of the restaurant,
the Sheriff's Office said. The officer saw Blanton and Allen get out of the
truck, grab tools, a pump and two containers before disappearing behind the
building, police said.

The men then reentered the truck and drove off. The officer stopped them,
finding the mens' hands covered in an "oily, greasy-like substance," police
said. 

The suspects may have stolen cooking oil from two other St. Bernard
businesses that night, police said.

Used cooking oil is worth about 60 cents a gallon, police said. 

Blanton and Allen are being held on a $25,000 bond each at St. Bernard
Parish Prison.