Illinois Fuel Thieves Caught Themselves After Putting Diesel in Gasoline Vehicles — Twice

If you were going to steal fuel, the bare minimum requirement might be knowing what kind of fuel you actually stole. Three suspects in Dixon, Illinois learned that the hard way on March 22, 2026, when what should have been a straightforward diesel theft from a township building turned into a chain of self-inflicted mechanical failures that left police with more evidence than they could have hoped for.

According to the Lee County Sheriff’s Office, Bryan Kettley, 26, and Codi Despain, 20, targeted a fuel tank at the Nelson Township Building. They reportedly cut wires to access the tank, causing property damage in the process. They successfully pumped out a quantity of diesel fuel. That, at least, went according to plan. Everything after that did not.

With the diesel in hand, the pair proceeded to pour it into a gasoline-powered pickup truck. For anyone who has ever been to a gas station, this is a painful thing to read. Diesel and gasoline engines are fundamentally incompatible. Filling a gas engine with diesel causes it to sputter, stall, and in short order, stop working entirely. Which is exactly what happened. The truck became inoperable almost immediately, leaving the suspects stranded not far from the scene of the crime.

Rather than cutting their losses and walking away, they turned to a backup plan: an ATV. A smaller, more nimble vehicle that could theoretically get them out of the situation. Then they fueled that one with diesel too. The ATV broke down as well, was abandoned on the spot, and became another piece of evidence sitting in plain sight for deputies to find. At that point, the escape plan had officially escaped them.

What happened at the Nelson Township Building

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The theft itself showed some degree of premeditation. Kettley and Despain did not simply siphon from an unlocked tank. Authorities say wires were cut to gain access to the fuel supply, which elevated the incident from petty theft to something more serious before a single drop of fuel was moved. The cutting of those wires caused damage to government property, adding a felony-level charge on top of the theft itself.

What the suspects did not appear to account for was the simple fact that the fuel they were stealing was diesel, and the vehicles they planned to use for their getaway ran on gasoline. This is not an obscure technical distinction. Every vehicle has a label at the fuel cap, and fuel pumps are color-coded at virtually every gas station in the country. Diesel nozzles are also larger than standard gasoline nozzles, a deliberate design feature meant to prevent exactly this kind of misfueling.

A third suspect and an attempted cover-up

The story did not stop at two people and two broken vehicles. A third individual, London Thomas, 22, also became part of the investigation. Authorities say Thomas attempted to conceal the abandoned ATV after it had already failed and been left behind. This decision did not help anyone. Rather than reducing the evidence at the scene, it added an obstruction charge to the pile.

Deputies who responded to the scene found the disabled pickup, the abandoned ATV, and the damaged fuel tank at the township building. The physical evidence was essentially arranged in a line leading investigators from the crime scene to the suspects. No prolonged search or complicated detective work was required. The sequence of events told the story on its own.

All three individuals were taken into custody and later released under Illinois’ SAFE-T Act, which governs pretrial detention standards across the state. The decision to release them drew attention from some observers given how clear and well-documented the chain of events appeared to be.

The charges each suspect faces

The charge list grew quickly once investigators pieced the situation together.

Between property damage, theft of government property, and the obstruction attempt, multiple overlapping criminal counts applied across the three suspects.

What drivers and property owners can take away from this incident

Beyond the obvious comedic elements of this case, there are a couple of things worth taking seriously. Fuel theft from municipal and agricultural properties is a genuine and ongoing problem across rural America. Diesel, in particular, is a high-value target because it powers farm equipment, construction machinery, and government vehicles. Property owners with fuel tanks on site are increasingly installing locking caps, fuel monitoring systems, and security cameras as a result.

For everyday drivers, this case is also a useful reminder of just how sensitive modern engines are to fuel type. Putting diesel in a gasoline engine will typically cause it to misfire and stall within a few miles, sometimes sooner. The reverse situation, gasoline in a diesel engine, can cause more severe and immediate damage. If you suspect you have misfueled your own vehicle, the advice from mechanics is consistent: do not start the engine. Call for a tow and have the tank drained professionally. The repair bill for catching it early is dramatically lower than one for driving on the wrong fuel.

In this case, the misfueling did not cost the suspects a repair bill. It cost them their freedom, at least temporarily, and left behind a scene that investigators could not have assembled more neatly if they had tried. Sometimes the most effective law enforcement tool is physics.