A 42-year-old Odessa man was arrested last week after a hidden trail camera captured several drilling joints being stolen from Chevron.
According to an Odessa Police Department report, a man called authorities on Wednesday morning to report a group of people in a Ford F250 entered Chevron property in the 5300 block of Northeast Loop 338 and spent about 45 minutes loading drilling joints onto a pole trailer that was hooked up to the pickup truck.
The caller gave officers photos of the same pickup truck going to other drilling sites and said he suspected they were looking for other joints, the report stated.
About three hours after OPD officers took the report, they learned Ector County Sheriff’s Office deputies had pulled over the truck and trailer at a gas station on West Interstate 20, the report stated. There were about 70 drilling joints still on the trailer and the 911 caller identified them as the ones that had been stolen.
Two of the men in the Ford told officers Gilberto Murrillo had hired them to help load the joints and take them to Fort Hancock. According to the report, they thought it odd they were picking them up at 2 a.m., but insisted they didn’t know they were stealing them.
Murrillo gave the officers a receipt from Chevron showing the joints had been purchased, but the 911 caller said the receipt was fake, the report stated.
According to an OPD news release, roughly 100 other joints were found at Murrillo’s home.
Murrillo was arrested on suspicion of theft of property, a state jail felony punishable by six months to two years in prison. He was released from the Ector County jail Thursday after posting a $4,000 surety bond.
The investigation is ongoing and authorities would like to warn individuals that receiving or buying stolen or suspected stolen property can result in criminal charges.
Anyone with information regarding this incident is encouraged to contact the Odessa Police Department at 432-333-3641 or Odessa Crime Stoppers at 432-333-TIPS.
