With gas prices rising, Arik Anthony Iannone allegedly stooped to a new low last week according to Sedona police when he siphoned gas from two cars that were parked at the Sedona campus of Verde Valley Medical Center parking lot.
On April 11, surveillance cameras at the medical center caught video footage of Iannone driving a red four-door Jeep SUV and allegedly drilling holes into the victim’s gas tanks to hoard their gas.
The next day, SPD officers saw his vehicle driving west on Dry Creek Road and stopped him for observed traffic violations. The car turned out to be a stolen vehicle from California, that had then been replaced with other out-of-state plates.
According to SPD, Iannone did not give a statement on why he stole the gas. But with gas prices having record highs across the country, on top of his previous criminal record with stealing the Jeep out of California, Iannone could have gotten away without a cent from his pocket.
“Arik Anthony Iannone was taken to the Yavapai County [Detention Center in Camp Verde] and charged with burglary, theft, criminal damage, possession of burglary tools, possession of stolen property, possession of a narcotic drug, possession of drug paraphernalia, driving with a revoked driver’s license, fictitious licenses plate and an open alcoholic container within a vehicle,” Sgt. Michael Dominguez, of the Sedona Police Department, wrote in his report.
Sedona’s gas prices are sitting around $4.20, while some stations in the area have skyrocketed up to about $5.50, like gas station 76 off of State Route 89A near the Y roundabout.
Surrounding towns like Cottonwood and Camp Verde are sitting at an average of $4.40. Last month, according to AAA, the U.S. reached a record high when gas prices sat at a national average of $4.33 a gallon.
With gas demand increasing after the ending of the global pandemic, as well as cuts in oil production due to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’s cut with Russia after its Ukrainian invasion, experts predict that gas prices will continue to remain at their high prices for the next few months.
And as for Iannone, he may have saved some money by his pitstop at the Sedona Medical Center, the cost could have been far worse if perhaps one spark had gone off while he drilled through the tanks, potentially igniting a fire. No one was injured in the crime.
