Oil Tech Accused of Stealing from Clients
An oil tech has been arrested.
A Lakeville heating oil technician who is in thousands of dollars in debt turned the homes he was supposed to service into his personal treasure chest, according to police. And, tonight, he faces robbery charges in two states.
From silver heirlooms, to power tools, from jewelry, to antiques, Walter McNeill and his wife Roberta said oil company technician Duane DuBois stole more than $100,000 worth of items from their Sharon home, while they were spending the winter of 2010 in Florida.
“He went under the bed, he went into every closet. He must have spent hours doing it,” said Walter McNeill.
Police said that in March 2010, DuBois, who had house keys and information on where keys were hidden in other homes because of his job at Taylor Oil, robbed the McNeills.
And, it wasn’t until they returned in May, that they discovered it.
“They see an oil truck outside, they figure he's here on business. Of course, the business he was here on was robbing us,” said Walter McNeill.
On Thursday, DuBois was in court to face charges on the Sharon robbery, but Connecticut state police said his stealing spree might have extended throughout the northwest part of the state and into New York, where he is now in jail, charged with similar crimes.
Investigators said they found stolen items from dozens of robberies at the 52-year old’s home.
“We are continuing our investigation in the state of Connecticut to ascertain if any more additional charges will be lodged in this case,” said Lt. Paul Vance of the Connecticut State Police.
Investigators said it’s too soon to tell how far the stealing spree spread, but they are canvassing every client of Taylor Oil and asking anyone in the northwest corner who thinks they could have been robbed by DuBois to call them.
They also issue a warning.
“Don't just assume that because a technician is sent to your home that they are to be left alone and unsupervised,” said Vance.
The McNeills said they are suing Taylor Oil, which told NBC Connecticut it had no comment on DuBois.
