PHOENIX -- A county employee has been arrested on suspicion of stealing more than 700 gallons from the county fill station for personal use, Maricopa County sheriff's investigators said.

Matthew Forest, 51, was apprehended by the sheriff's corruption unit and booked into jail on a charge of probable cause of theft.

Forest is a job order manager with the Maricopa County Facilities Management Operations & Maintenance Division, sheriff's investigators said.

Deputies said Forest had stolen the gas, with an estimated value of more than $1,700, since November 2007.

Investigators said a sheriff's deputy noticed Forest pumping fuel into what appeared to be a personal vehicle.