BATON ROUGE — The Facility Manager for LSU’s Center for Advanced Microstructures and Devices (CAMD) David Kleinpeter is accused of repeatedly buying more gas than LSU needed on his FuelTrac card and keeping several thousands of dollars worth of LSU-owned equipment at his own home until it came time for an audit.
Kleinpeter was arrested on Sept. 15, 2025 and charged with theft over $1,000.
His recently filed arrest warrant details the allegations against Kleinpeter dating back to last year.
Fuel Theft Allegations
An employee at LSU’s CAMD told LSU Police officers that on three separate occasions, they “witnessed Kleinpeter committing theft,” according to the arrest warrant.
On June 15, 2025, Sept. 26, 2024 and one other time, David Kleinpeter allegedly filled up his personal diesel truck from the LSU CAMD’s 500-gallon diesel tank. The employee told officers that “the only purpose of the diesel tank is to fuel a backup generator if CAMD loses electricity and is not to be consumed for personal purposes.”
Plus, Kleinpeter has a FuelTrac card so he can purchase gas for the CAMD lawnmower, per the warrant. The employee told officers that it takes roughly 10-15 gallons of gas to mow the grass weekly, but that Kleinpeter allegedly charged the card for 20-25 gallons.
The employee said they “believed Kleinpeter was stealing the remaining gallons of gasoline for Kleinpeter’s own personal use.”
That’s when police pulled Kleinpeter’s FuelTrac card records going back two years. According to the warrant, in the month of July 2024, officers say Kleinpeter bought a total of 165.49 gallons of gas, however roughly 75 gallons would have been used for the lawnmower. It’s why officers believe roughly 91 gallons were stolen, given a value of nearly $361.
“I am not able to determine an exact amount of gasoline stolen by Kleinpeter over his last two years of employment; however, evidence strongly suggests Kleinpeter stole gasoline during multiple times through multiple separate transactions,” the warrant read.
LSU Equipment Allegedly Stored at Kleinpeter’s Home
The fuel theft allegations triggered LSU auditors to conduct an audit of CAMD property. During the audit, officials search for any LSU property that an office should have. In this particular case, they zoned in on any LSU property purchased by or for Kleinpeter. However, during the audit, several of the items could not readily be located. But then during the audit, the warrant says Kleinpeter drove to his home and “brought back several items that auditors had earlier requested to see for inventory,” something the warrant claims Kleinpeter initially attempted to hide but then admitted to.
One of the items he’s accused of bringing from his home is a pressure washer valued at $1,595.
The warrant there were additional LSU tools and university-owned equipment that was returned to CAMD, many of the items a CAMD employee told officers they had never seen.
“Although no one witnessed Kleinpeter return the additional items, based on the circustances, evidence suggests Kleinpeter had the items at his personal residence, and if the audit had not been conducted, Kleinpeter would not have returned the items.” All the items are valued around $4,800.
Officers did interview Kleinpeter in late August 2025 about both the gasoline and missing items. He denied stealing any fuel. He did admit keeping the pressure washer and additional equipment for pressure washing at his home for roughly 3-4 days. But officers say based on their investigation, it appears it had been at his home since May 28, 2025. The total value of the pressure washer and equipment for it was just under $2,200.
Officials suspect had there not been an audit, David Kleinpeter would have kept the items, therefore committing theft of LSU property.
His bond was set at $2,500 and he was released on his own recognizance. His current job status with LSU is unknown. UWK did reach out to LSU, but has not heard back as of publication.
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