Gasoline theft on the rise
It was inevitable.
With gas prices approaching $4 a gallon comes news that gas theft is on the rise.
Although drive-offs have declined earlier this decade since most stations make you pay before you pump, the National Association of Convenience Stores says they’re rising sharply again.
Even worse, the police told msnbc that thieves are getting bolder.
* Using an empty gas can and a siphon, thieves were able to suck 30 gallons of diesel from a bus in a Bethesda, Md., parking lot.
* In Beaver Dam, Wis., “they’re just going to cars at night and siphoning gas out of them,” said Stephanie Lehmann, who said several cars in her neighborhood had been hit.
* Police in Evansville, Ind., said thieves drained all of the fuel this month from seven trucks belonging to a local office of JBM Inc., a metal fabrication chain. They put the loss at $700.
* And police in Denver are investigating a rash of of incidents in which thieves drill small holes into gas tanks and siphon off the fuel. “This is clearly not the way it’s been done in the past, by taking a hose and putting it in a gas tank,” police Detective John White said.
Police suggest buying a locking gas cap to prevent thieves from siphoning the gas out of your tank, but as you all know, where there's a will there's always a way. A locked gas cap won't keep everyone out if they're really desperate.
If you ask me, I liked the praying at the pump trend way more than this gas theft one. How angry would you be if you came out one morning and found your car tank empty? Anyone seeing any funny business with your gas or your gas tanks around here?
(Image courtesy of stockxchng.com)
