Former Lake County employee accused of stealing fuel

A former Lake County public works employee has been charged with stealing gasoline from a Lake County Department of Transportation fuel station.

According to a news release, Dwayne T. Keener 21, of the 1300 block of Lorelei Drive in Zion, surrendered to Lake County sheriff's detectives Wednesday afternoon and is being held in the county jail on the $50,000 bail. He has a hearing at 9 a.m. Thursday in courtroom C-120.

Authorities said a sheriff's deputy arrived at the fuel station on Winchester Road in Libertyville on May 2 and noticed a suspicious vehicle pulling away. The deputy pulled the vehicle over, and Keener identified himself as an employee of the Lake County Department of Public Works. The vehicle being driven by Keener was not a Lake County vehicle and he was not authorized to use the county fuel station, the news release said.

Further investigation revealed that Keener had started stealing from the fuel station last October, when he was an intern, the news release said. He was hired as a full-time employee in March but was fired after his May 2 arrest.

Authorities said Keener admitted to using the codes of several different employees to fuel vehicles belonging to his girlfriend, his parents and a friend.

On May 8, after a preliminary audit of code activity, an arrest warrant was issued for Keener on a felony charge of theft of government property

Additional charges are possible.