Gas thieves puncture tanks, steal fuel; SUVs easier targets

[marmar]

AP, via Yahoo!:



Mechanics, police say gas theft changing with times
By JEFF KAROUB, AP Business Writer
Tue May 27, 5:37 PM ET



DETROIT - Dale Fortin is getting a new kind of customer at his Detroit auto repair shop, customers who have not just been in a fender-bender or had a windshield smashed by a rock.

The soaring price of crude oil has turned gas tanks into a cache of valuable booty, and Fortin has replaced several tanks punctured or drilled by thieves thirsting for the nearly $4-a-gallon fuel inside.

"That's the new fad," said the co-owner of Dearborn Auto Tech in Detroit. "I'd never seen it before gas got up this high."

While gas station drive-offs and siphoning are far more common methods of stealing gas, reports of tank and line puncturing are starting to trickle into police departments and repair shops across the country.

Some veteran mechanics and law enforcement officers say it's an unwelcome return of a crime they first saw during the Middle East oil embargo of the early 1970s.

Gasoline prices surged just before the long Memorial Day holiday weekend and crept a hair higher overnight Monday to a new record national average $3.937 for a gallon of regular, according to a survey of stations by AAA and the Oil Price Information Service.

Given their height, Fortin said pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles are more vulnerable to the thieves who puncture the tanks and use a container to catch the fuel.

Plastic tanks are typically the target, he said, since there is less chance of a catastrophic spark, and they are easier to drill into. .....(more)

The complete piece is at: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080527/ap_on_bi_ge/punctured_gas_tanks

[madame defarge]

1. Doesn't anyone remember locking gas caps?

I remember back in the late '70's when people were siphoning gas out, hence the locking gas cap. But line puncturing? Wow.

BTW, when I was filling up my small car today, I was surrounded by 4 SUVs... My gas bill was $57 (because I fill up when the tank is 1/4 full, to avoid the money shock). But the SUVs hit $100 and the pump shut off on them -- it wouldn't register above $100.

[marmar]

2. There were a couple of SUV people ahead of me in line at the gas station today....

.... paying their $100 fillups with credit cards. ..... People have got to be racking up massive amounts of fuel debt these days.

[stevietheman]

6. This makes me wonder if we're going to see "fuel card bankruptcies" before long. n/t

n/t

[Eric J in MN]

7. Maybe they were debit cards. NT

NT

[murielm99]

3. I had a locking gas cap.

The guy who filled my tank warned me that if anyone wanted my gas, they would just puncture the tank. I remember that happening to a few people.

[dysfunctional press]

5. it wasn't the pump that wouldn't register over $100...

it's that the credit card company has a limit for a single gas purchase- some had them as low as $50.

[-..__...]

4. Justice would be well served...

if the gas stealing shit-smears went up in a glorious ball of flame.

Other than that, if caught, charged and convicted, they should serve a minimum of 1 month in jail/prison for each gallon drained from the victims tank.