Police say the couple broke into the city's water treatment facility on Alliant Street in northeast Houston.
An HPD officer reported seeing a suspicious woman near the gate about 1 a.m. Saturday.
He said she led him to a man, who had already loaded about 1,000 gallons of diesel fuel on a trailer.
When police approached him, they say he tried to get away.
"At that time the male tried to break out of the facility, smashing the gate, and potentially rammed the police truck. The officer detained him shortly after that," HPD Lt. Vasilis Harisis said.