Heating Oil Truck Stolen Amid Frigid Temperatures

A tanker truck filled with home heating oil was stolen off of a Philadelphia street as the area deals with some of the coldest temperatures of the season.

Philadelphia Police say a blue Mama’s Boy Heating Oil company truck was stolen from 58th Street and Whitby Avenue in Southwest Philadelphia sometime overnight.

Chris Thomas, the delivery company's owner, says he had left the truck parked outside at the location because he was having trouble with the brakes.

“So you got ice inside the air brake lines causing the air not to go through,” Thomas said. “So there’s an air shortage which means if I drive the truck with that much weight and if I can’t brake I would be in jail. You’d be interviewing a guy who couldn’t brake and killed some people.”

Thomas says the truck was filled with 3,000 gallons of fuel when it was taken -- worth nearly $13,000. Thomas told NBC10 exactly what he was thinking the moment he realized it was stolen.

"Honestly? What the -" he said. "They took my livelihood today. That was our main truck there. Whoever took it, knows about oil."

Thomas also believes that the culprit was following him prior to the theft.

“This is not no terroristic thing,” he said. “The average price right now wholesale is about $4 a gallon. So it was about almost 3,000 gallons on the truck so you do the math. It’s a hot commodity.” 

The theft took place as the city deals with arctic temperatures and sub-zero wind chills.

The truck has “Mama’s Boy” written on the doors of the cab, but does not have writing on the tank.

Police are asking anyone who may have seen the theft or noticed the truck to call them.

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