He was stopped for stealing gas in Florida. Then cops looked in the bed of the truck

By Eric Last updated Mar 1, 2023

Two men were arrested earlier this month in gas station ripoffs around Florida.

According to the Lee County Sheriff’s Office, deputies got a tip from the Oklahoma-based corporate office of Love’s Travel Stop that two people were fueling up with counterfeit credit cards at their establishments.

Lee deputies were to be on the lookout for a white Dodge Ram 3500 and a white Chevrolet Silverado.

An employee at a Love’s in North Fort Myers saw the trucks on Feb. 22 and called cops.

When a deputy arrived around 4 p.m., he saw the Dodge Ram in front of an air pump and made contact with Antonio Medina, 37, who said he was the vehicle’s owner.

As the deputy searched the bed, he found a gopher tortoise.

Medina said that he had found the animal on the side of Interstate-75.

The deputy called the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to handle the reptile.

Further investigation found that Medina carried a counterfeit credit card in his wallet and he was arrested on a charge of unlawful possession of the personal identification of another person.

During his investigation at the Love’s, the Lee County deputy noticed the other suspect, Yusniel Sainz, 36, driving by in a Chevrolet Silverado. Dispatch sent deputies to pull Sainz over.

The 36-year-old was arrested on charges of unlawful conveyance of fuel. He did not have a reptile in his truck bed, but did have a so called “fuel cell,” which is used to store large amounts of gas.

Julie Martin, a spokeperson with the law enforcement agency, told the Miami Herald that the men were using “cloned” cards to pay for the gas throughout various Love’s stations, and that both have since been released on bond.

As for the tortoise, it is safely with the Fish and Wildlife agency.