ATLANTA — Thieves across metro Atlanta are stealing an unusual “liquid gold” – used cooking oil.

It isn’t just restaurant owners who are hurt by this crime. It’s leading to spills that threaten our water supply and cause crashes.

Surveillance video shows thieves backing up a white van to steal used cooking oil from Divan restaurant in Midtown Atlanta.

They spilled some of the oil. Video shows it seeping into the street.

“I go to turn, and then suddenly I’m down. Like my bike is sliding across the road. It’s crazy,” said 17-year-old Ashlyn Whitfield.

Her motorcycle hit that patch of cooking oil and she wiped out.

Fortunately, Whitfield only scraped her knee.

She snapped photos of the sand crews used to cover the oil after she wrecked.

“I was so flabbergasted to hear that there was some secret underground cooking oil ring,” said Whitfield.

The same spill caused a car to crash earlier that morning.