NEW BEDFORD Owners and a manager at three New Bedford restaurants told WHDH-TV that thieves took used cooking oil from their grease containers this week, but the New Bedford Police Department said Saturday that it has not received any calls or reports about the thefts.
"At this time, the NBPD has not received any calls for service or reports documenting cooking oil thefts or attempted thefts in New Bedford," Holly Huntoon, the department's spokesperson, said in a statement Saturday afternoon, Oct. 31.
"We are aware of reports circulating on social media regarding incidents at local businesses, as well as similar incidents occurring in other communities," the statement said. "We are following up with local businesses to determine whether they wish to file a report and provide additional information to the department."
What the restaurants said
The owners and a manager described the thefts to WHDH-TV (7News) in a story the Boston station published Thursday night, Oct. 29.
Hitesh Saini, the owner of G&S Pizza on Acushnet Avenue, told the station that a surveillance camera recorded a truck pulling into the restaurant's back parking lot Monday night, Oct. 26, before the people inside got out, opened the oil container and took what was in it. Saini said they lowered a hose into the containers and pumped the oil out.
"It's crazy. It's diabolical, man, diabolical, what are you going to get out of cooking oil?" Saini told WHDH.
Across the street at Mikey B's, manager Christine Burgess told the station the restaurant's grease container was broken into the same night and that much of what was taken was spilled in the parking lot. "People do crazy things," Burgess said. "I don't even put anything past anyone anymore."
Employees at Cafe Roma, up the street, told WHDH they were hit as well, with oil spilled across that restaurant's parking lot. "It goes all the way around," owner Jene Beatty told the station. "They dumped the biggest mess here, and the tracks go back all the way around the building."
Why anyone would steal used oil
WHDH reported that police said used cooking oil can be sold on the black market and turned into other products, including biodiesel. The Beverly Police Department made a similar point in releases on two sets of arrests at restaurants on that city's Cabot Street this month: "Used cooking oil has resale value and is collected by companies for recycling into products such as biofuel." In both cases, Beverly police estimated the oil they recovered was worth about $2,750.
In the first Beverly case, at about 7 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 10, officers found three people from Worcester handling a large hose beside a rental van that held a pump and three large storage tanks, police said. In the second, at about 5:05 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 23, officers found two men from Yonkers, N.Y., in a large white van outside the same Cabot Street restaurant, with fresh oil and grease on the ground from the restaurant next door. Police said the two men were each charged with two counts of breaking into a depository, two counts of vandalizing property and one count of possession of a burglarious instrument. Beverly police noted in both releases that the charges are allegations and that everyone charged is presumed innocent. Neither release mentions New Bedford.
What happens next
New Bedford police said they are following up with the businesses to see whether the owners want to file reports and share more information with the department. WHDH's report asked anyone with information about the thefts to call New Bedford police.
South Coast 360 News will update this story if reports are filed or the department releases more information.
Label: Reported by us, from the town's posted records.
Notes
The police position comes from a statement by the New Bedford Police Department's spokesperson, issued Saturday afternoon, Oct. 31, and quoted in full. The restaurant owners' and manager's accounts come from WHDH-TV's Oct. 29 report, credited by name, which we read Oct. 30 and again Oct. 31. Why used oil has value, and the Beverly cases, come from the Beverly Police Department's own releases of Oct. 10 and Oct. 23, read Oct. 31. We checked each date and weekday against a calendar. Not heard: the owners of G&S Pizza and Cafe Roma and the manager of Mikey B's, beyond what they told WHDH.
Corrections
No corrections to this story. If something here is wrong, tell us. Every correction is dated on the story and listed in our public log.
Sources (4)
- New Bedford Police Department, statement from spokesperson Holly Huntoon (Sat. Oct. 31, 2026, 4:16 p.m.; not posted online)That the department has received no calls for service or reports of cooking oil thefts or attempted thefts in New Bedford, is aware of the social media reports and of similar incidents in other communities, and is following up with local businesses about filing reports. Quoted in full. Read Oct. 31, 2026.
- WHDH-TV (7News), "Cooking oil stolen from several restaurants in New Bedford" (published Oct. 29, 2026, 9:12 p.m.)The accounts and quotes of G&S Pizza owner Hitesh Saini, Mikey B's manager Christine Burgess and Cafe Roma owner Jene Beatty; the Monday night theft at G&S Pizza and the truck, hose and pump; the spills; the police line on the black market and biodiesel; the call for information. Read Oct. 30, 2026, and again Oct. 31, 2026 (unchanged).
- Beverly Police Department, "Beverly Police Arrest Three in Connection with Cooking Oil Thefts" (posted Oct. 10, 2026)The Oct. 10 arrests on Cabot Street, the hose, rental van, pump and three storage tanks, the resale value line and the $2,750 estimate. Read Oct. 31, 2026.
- Beverly Police Department, "Beverly Police Arrest Two New York Men in Connection with Cooking Oil Thefts" (posted Oct. 23, 2026)The Oct. 23 arrests at 5:05 a.m., the white van, the oil and grease from the neighboring restaurant, the charges, the resale value line, the $2,750 estimate and the allegations line. Read Oct. 31, 2026.