Man surrenders in gas-theft death of Alabama station owner

FORT PAYNE, Ala. -- A man surrendered to police Thursday in the death of a gas station owner who tried to stop a $52 gasoline theft by grabbing onto a moving vehicle, but was run over and killed.

Police said Alvin D. Benefield, 42, surrendered Thursday and was held on charges including theft and manslaughter in the death of Husain "Tony" Caddi, 54. Caddi was killed Aug. 19 in the drive-off at his Texaco station in Fort Payne in rural northeast Alabama.

Benefield gave a statement in which "he said he didn't have the money for gas and said he didn't realize what had happened at the time," Fort Payne assistant police chief Mike Grant said. "But after he found out he said it started bothering him real bad."

Benefield said he knew Caddi had fallen while trying to stop his vehicle, but claimed he didn't know that Caddi had died until he read a newspaper article Tuesday, Grant told the Times-Journal in Fort Payne.

Benefield's Jeep Grand Cherokee was seized by police, and he was jailed without immediate bond.

Meanwhile, Caddi's son began a three-week journey to bury his father in his home country of Indonesia. "My father loved this country with all his heart, he loved this town and he loved the people here," he said.

Muharram said he would bury his father's remains in Jakarta, Indonesia, in a traditional Muslim ceremony and spend three weeks there before returning to operate the gas station.