Who knows what they were cooking up.
A pair of slippery-fingered Long Island thieves were busted loading up on cooking oil at a Suffolk County eatery — and allegedly pulled off similar heists at more than a dozen restaurants, police said.
Oliver Lorenzo Valdez, 30, and Juan Hernandez, 28, were nabbed behind Gourmet Garden in Center Moriches around 6:20 a.m. Tuesday allegedly trying to pull off another heist — just minutes after they loaded up on a batch of oil at nearby Mama Lisa Restaurant, Suffolk County police said this week.
In fact, cops said the two are suspected of packing their white Ford van with vats of stolen cooking oil at a total of 14 restaurants and food retailers on the island since April 10.
Police said the oil thieves allegedly pulled up behind the businesses early in the morning before they opened for the day and made off with the greasy goods.
The first heist was on April 10 at Friendly’s in East Islip, followed by another theft at Mulberry Street Babylon in Babylon on April 22, according to police.
On June 13 they allegedly struck at Bagels 101 and Shah’s Halash Food, both in Middle Island.
Cops said there were a series of oil strikes on June 18, with thefts at Carlo’s Pizza in Shirley, La Vespa in Manorville, and Smoke Shack and Carmelina’s Pizzeria and Ristorante in Center Moriches.
Five other businesses were robbed on June 19 – Meltology Bar and Grilled Cheese in Middle Island, Joy Wo Chinese Kitchen in Shoreham, Gourmet Garden in Center Moriches, Miko East Northport Sushi & Hibachi in East Northport, and Huntington Square Mall, also in East Northport.
On Tuesday, they allegedly tried to pull off another theft at Mama Lisa and were caught, police said.
Photos of the pair being led in handcuffs by cops show one wearing a head-to-toe Hazmat suit, and police said their white van was seized as part of the investigation.
The two men were charged with 14 counts of petty larceny, two counts of criminal mischief and one count of sixth-degree conspiracy. Valdez was arraigned and released as the charges are not bail eligible under state law.
Hernandez was still waiting arraignment Wednesday evening.
Experts say used cooking oil, sometimes called “yellow grease,” can be filtered and boiled down into a biofuel for uses varing from cosmetics to animal feed — making them a hot commodity that has seen more and more restaurants sell their spent oil to processing companies.
