City Employee Arrested for Fuel Theft

Los Angeles:  Yesterday, City of Los Angeles employee Raymond Mark, 44, was arrested and booked for grand theft relating to charges of stealing fuel at Los Angeles City maintenance facilities.  At least 50,000 gallons of fuel have been stolen from a Sunland area facility with an approximate value of up to $250,000.

Beginning in 2008, Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) detectives from the Commercial Auto Theft Section (CATS) of the Department’s Commercial Crimes Division began investigating fuel thefts occurring at City maintenance facilities.  Their investigation was in partnership with the City’s Bureau of Street Maintenance (a division of the City’s Department of Public Works) and the City’s Department of General Services.  The investigation revealed that Mark had “customers” who were purchasing the fuel, one of whom was 28-year-old Burbank resident Gevork Sukunyan, who has also been arrested for receiving stolen property.

Mark is currently an employee of the Bureau of Street Maintenance.  Detectives will be seeking additional counts against him for commercial burglary, theft, criminal profiteering and Department of Motor Vehicle fraud.  They will also seek additional counts against Sukunyan for conspiracy to commit grand theft and criminal profiteering   

Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the LAPD’s Commercial Crimes Division at 213-485-4131.  After hours or on weekends, calls may be directed to a 24-hour, toll-free number at 1-877-LAPD-24-7 (527-3247) or by texting CRIMES (274637) and beginning the message with the letters LAPD.  Tipsters may also submit information on the LAPD website: www.lapdonline.org.  All tips may remain anonymous.