Some crooks rob banks. Others commit insurance fraud. And some of them—well, some of them simply can't resist when they see several hundred gallons of greasy fry oil just sitting there:

Three men from New York are out on bail after police said they stole more than 500 gallons of used cooking grease from several Salem restaurants.

Salem police said they arrested the three men last week for stealing the used cooking grease at a value of an estimated $1,000.

"On Friday, April 1 at about 5:40 in the morning, our dispatch center received a call from a witness over at the Salem Market Place over on Route 28 who observed three men in a van with ski masks," Salem police Capt. Jason Smith said. "And when he came upon them, they drove off quickly."

The van, which was a modified armored car, used to support the weight of the grease, was later spotted by police at a nearby gas station.

A "modified armored car," huh? You're telling me these guys were boosting about two tons of cooking grease while driving a...

Grease can't possibly be worth that much, can it??

[T]his a fairly popular crime since used cooking grease is recycled into different kinds of biofuel, giving it a lot of value, especially when prices are high.

Oh.

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