{"id":2100,"date":"2025-12-11T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-12-11T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/?p=2100"},"modified":"2025-12-11T04:51:30","modified_gmt":"2025-12-11T10:51:30","slug":"thief-river-falls-man-accused-of-fuel-theft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/thief-river-falls-man-accused-of-fuel-theft\/","title":{"rendered":"Thief River Falls Man Accused Of Fuel Theft"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thief River Falls <\/strong>(trfnews.i234.me<\/a>) \u2013 A Thief River Falls man faces several charges after a reported gas drive-off at a local travel plaza.<\/p>\n

Report Of Theft At Cenex Travel Plaza<\/h2>\n

On December 1 at about 10:45 a.m., police received a theft report from Cenex Travel Plaza in Thief River Falls.
\nStaff told officers that a driver had pumped fuel and then left without paying.<\/p>\n

The manager reported that about $40.93 worth of gasoline was taken.
\nThe vehicle left the lot before workers could stop the driver.
\nFuel thefts like this are sometimes called \u201cgas drive-offs\u201d by law enforcement.<\/p>\n

The manager obtained a clear photo of the license plate as the vehicle left.
\nThe plate number came back to a sport utility vehicle.
\nOfficers then reviewed store surveillance video to confirm what happened.<\/p>\n

Suspect Identified As Local Man<\/h2>\n

On video, it allegedly appeared that the driver paid at the pump, but never scanned the payment card.
\nThe driver was later identified as Tanner Lyle Peterson, 32, of Thief River Falls<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Officers went to 320 Calumet Avenue South, the address listed for the registered owner of the plates.
\nThere, police spoke with Peterson about the incident and the vehicle.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

\"Mugshot<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Peterson allegedly told police that a friend had been driving his mother\u2019s vehicle.
\nHe said the friend drove because Peterson does not have a valid license.<\/p>\n

However, the officer said the surveillance footage showed Peterson himself getting into the driver\u2019s seat.
\nThe officer also saw fresh footprints in the snow near the license plates on the SUV.<\/p>\n

The SUV now carried the same plate number seen leaving the Cenex Travel Plaza.
\nThis raised more questions about how the plates were being used.<\/p>\n

License Plate And Registration Issues<\/h2>\n

When confronted, Peterson allegedly admitted switching license plates between his car and the SUV.
\nThe SUV had been left at the home by a previous owner, according to the report.<\/p>\n

Peterson has now been cited for several offenses.
\nThose include motor vehicle registration \u2013 unregistered, certain acts forbidden, driving after revocation, and theft of motor fuel from a retailer.<\/p>\n

Minnesota law requires vehicles to be properly registered and display the correct plates.
\nMore details on registration rules are listed by the\u00a0Minnesota Driver and Vehicle Services division<\/a>.<\/p>\n

State law also makes it a crime to leave a gas station without paying after pumping fuel.
\nSome cases are handled as misdemeanor theft, while repeat cases can bring stiffer penalties.
\nGeneral information on theft laws is available through the\u00a0Minnesota Revisor of Statutes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Driving after revocation is another common traffic offense in Minnesota.
\nDrivers can face fines, possible jail time, and further license problems for that charge.<\/p>\n

Peterson\u2019s case will move forward in local court, where he will have a chance to respond to the allegations.
\nAll defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty.<\/p>\n

I’m Chris Harper reporting for\u00a0TRF News<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thief River Falls (trfnews.i234.me) \u2013 A Thief River Falls man faces several charges after a reported gas drive-off at a local travel plaza. Report Of Theft At Cenex Travel Plaza On December 1 at about 10:45 a.m., police received a theft report from Cenex Travel Plaza in Thief River Falls. Staff told officers that a… Continue reading Thief River Falls Man Accused Of Fuel Theft<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2104,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_wpscp_schedule_draft_date":"","_wpscp_schedule_republish_date":"","_wpscppro_advance_schedule":false,"_wpscppro_advance_schedule_date":"","_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":null,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"default","_twitter_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type":"default","_pinterest_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"default","_medium_share_type":"default","_threads_share_type":"default","_google_business_share_type":"default","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[14],"tags":[1065,2397,1322,827,2209,2394,2395,151,865,2396,682,755,824,1051,825,778,786,790],"class_list":["post-2100","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-usa-news","tag-accused","tag-cenex-travel-plaza","tag-driving-after-revocation","tag-falls","tag-fuel","tag-fuel-theft","tag-gas-drive-off","tag-man","tag-minnesota-crime","tag-motor-vehicle-registration","tag-news","tag-peterson","tag-river","tag-theft","tag-thief","tag-thief-river-falls","tag-trf-news","tag-usa","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2100","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2100"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2100\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2105,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2100\/revisions\/2105"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2104"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2100"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2100"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2100"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}