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GREENSBORO — A vigilant convenience store owner with a video camera helped police catch four suspects accused of stealing gasoline from his store early Wednesday morning.

Andy P., the owner of Andy’s Mart Texaco at 3223 Battleground Ave., said he has lost $15,000 through gas thefts in the past four months. He's confident there are other victims out there.

“They are taking food out of my children’s mouths,” said Andy, who asked that his last name not be used for fear of retaliation.

“If I was to go bankrupt, (these people) would be taking 75 jobs away from my employees” he said of workers at the several businesses he owns in the area.

So, when a clerk called him Sunday to say 1,000 gallons of gas worth $2,275 had been stolen from the store since last Thursday, he knew it was time to fight back.

A call to a technician revealed that someone had tampered with the pumps, using a key to unlock the electronics housing unit. From there, a keypad was used to enter a code and steal gas.

Instead of changing the codes, Andy bought a video camera. He set it up under a cigar box in the store window.

He hid in a back room Monday night, watching the footage and waiting. He got a friend to keep watch from a nearby restaurant parking lot — ready to follow the thieves if they got away — but no one ever showed.

Andy and his friend were back at it Tuesday night, and by 12:30 a.m. Wednesday, they got the break they had been hoping for.

A woman driving a moving truck pulled up to one of the pumps, followed by two cars and a pickup.

“They started filling the gas,” Andy said. “Just when the lady started tampering with the machine, I called the cops.”

Greensboro police arrived within minutes and blocked two exits to prevent the suspects from leaving.

Arrested were: Mark Tracy Dungee, 44, of 10 Mandela Court; Ted Ethan Dungee, 44, of 2404 Bywood Road; Averett Leman Perkins, 22, of 1510 Ridgewood Ave.; and Chrystal Rose Tharrington, 48, of 214 Matt Place.

Each was charged with larceny, and Mark Dungee also was charged with possession of stolen goods.

Mark Dungee’s court records indicated he was caught with $75 in gas when police arrived.

Police also recovered several 60 gallon drums and a pump from the back of the moving truck.

Two other people arrested with Mark Dungee said he told them to help in the scheme. Court records indicate that further charges against him are pending.

Records for the other suspects were not available Wednesday.

Detective Mark Steed, who assisted with the case, said the police department has had a series of similar thefts in the area but had no suspects until now.

Mark Dungee, reached by telephone, said that he was arrested at the gas station but that “they are trying to pin something on me that I had nothing to do with” regarding a series of thefts.

Attempts to reach the other suspects for comment were unsuccessful.

As for Andy, he said he hopes the 18-minute video, which he plans to post on YouTube, will go a long way toward convicting the suspects and, just as important, that it will send a message.

“We are simple owners running simple businesses. It’s bad for us,” Andy said. “That’s what I care about.”

Contact Ryan Seals at 373-7077 or ryan.seals @news-record.com