Antique Gas Pumps Stolen From Johnson County Business
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CLEBURNE (CBS11) - Cleburne Police are looking for criminals who stole two valuable pieces of history from a Johnson County gas station.
According to a police report, the theft happened in the overnight hours of June 24, at the South Main Street Gas Station.
South Main Street is the only full-service gas station in Cleburne – run by a man who first got into the business as a teenager.
Charles Richardson began managing the business, which is owned by the Harris Oil Company, nearly 40 years ago.
"I just enjoy putting up with people. You run across all kinds," he said.
He and employees are quick to jump to work when a customer pulls up – washing windows, pumping gas, and checking under the hood. Many of the customers are from families who have visited the station for generations.
"My parents went here, so when I got my license it was just natural to come here. They check my car for me, get my gas, and I know my car is going to run fine when I leave," said Erica Bonham, who stopped by Tuesday.
Now 78, Richardson pumped his first gallon of gas as a kid in Godley, Texas. He says he would walk past a station on the way home from school, and the station manager would sometimes let him take a try at the pump.
"Well, it was just something to do," said Richardson of the memory.
As a teenager, he began working at gas stations, and gradually moved to different companies and up to a managerial level to be where he is today.
The gas pumps he first used as a kid in Godley came into the possession of the Harris family, and were put on display at the South Main Street location several decades ago.
The vintage pumps – valued at several thousand dollars – date back to the 1920s.
"A lot of people would go over and look at them, after they'd get gas here," Richardson said.
When he came to work on the morning of June 24th, Richardson says he noticed two of the three vintage pumps were gone.
He told the office manager, who called the owner of the station, who called police.
A third pump was bolted to the ground, and was not taken. The station owner has since moved it into storage, to protect it from future theft.
"We just didn't want to lose them. They weren't for sale. We could have sold them a million times. Never thought about nobody stealing them, because they were sitting right out there all those years," said Richardson.
Cleburne Police say they are working a few leads, but have no suspects in the case. Investigators have obtained grainy surveillance video from a nearby business that shows an older model, two-tone Ford pickup truck in the area at the time of the theft. Police would like to find the people in that vehicle to see if they have any information.
Richardson says he has a message for the thief – or thieves.
"They can work like I do. Ain't no use in stealing," he says.
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