A damaged gas tank discovered by an employee of the Gross Auto Group. Police stations across the country have received reports of gas theft from businesses, gas stations and individuals. (Adrienne Broaddus, CNN)
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Atlanta-Mike Gross is a family dealer in Neillsville, Wisconsin, who has experienced many thefts over the years, including wheels, tires, cash, and entire vehicles, but this is new.
A service technician was preparing to inspect a used jeep when he discovered a gas leak. According to Gross, the technician put the vehicle on the hoist and “as soon as he put it in the air, I could see someone actually piercing the fuel tank,” Gross said.
Gas prices have risen steadily over the past year as the US economy has emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic slump. Then, after Russia invaded Ukraine, prices soared this month, hitting a record high. Police stations across the country are currently receiving reports of gas theft from businesses, gas stations and individuals.
According to Gross, a Wisconsin dealer thief cost Jeep about $ 1,500 with about three gallons of gas. However, thieves elsewhere are reported to have escaped with thousands of dollars of gasoline.
Mandeep Singh, owner of a gas station in Duncanville, Texas, has stolen about $ 27,000 worth of gas in the past few months. He didn’t reveal to CNN how the theft was happening because he didn’t want others to try the same.
“This guy has so much information that he must be working for some kind of gas dispenser company,” Shin said. Only those who actually work at the dispenser can do that. “
Police are working on the case, and Shin added security at his station.
“We want justice,” he said. “It’s a lot of money we lose.”
The thief is coming up with a new way to steal from a gas station. In Houston, Texas, Fuqua Express station owner Jerry Thayil said he parked a minivan with a trapdoor above the station’s underground fuel tank and used the tank to steal 1,000 gallons of diesel in three days. increase.
Thayil is “a kind of frustration and anger,” he said. “You can’t give this to a customer.”
According to the Florida Department of Agricultural and Consumer Services, Florida investigators allegedly used fraudulent credit / debit cards last week and used equipment to operate pumps to steal gas. I was arrested.
In North Carolina last week, about 400 gallons of gas were stolen by a thief who was able to bypass the payment system. Recently, a car stopped at High Point’s Bizzy Bee Grocery Store and a gas station. It seems that someone is using the pump device to get the gas without paying. Later, according to station owner Hardik Patel, more than 15 cars pulled up the tank in 45 minutes, filled it up, and consumed $ 1,600 worth of gas.
Victims are not limited to business owners. There are reports that gas tanks have been excavated and gas has been stolen all over the country.
Last week, two suspects drilled a hole in the gas tank of a parked minivan at Loews’ parking lot in Carson City, Nevada. According to the CNN-affiliated WPVI, a home security camera recorded a person walking around a car with a drill and bucket in a gas theft in Allentown, Pennsylvania.
According to CNN-affiliated WSB-TV, some people around Atlanta reported excavating and emptying gas tanks. Atlanta police arrested a man suspected of piercing a tank and drinking gas earlier this month, the agency said in a statement.
According to AAA, drilling a hole in a gas tank is the only way to get gas out of a new car tank with a valve that prevents it from spilling in the event of a collision. The valve also prevents gas from being sucked out of the tank in the traditional way.
How to protect from gas theft
Police stations across the country advise drivers to take steps to protect their vehicles from gas theft. The Everett and Hoquiam police stations in Washington suggest that drivers take precautions, such as buying a locking gas cap or parking in a bright, visible location.
According to Andrew Gross, spokesman for AAA National, AAA has made numerous inquiries about gas theft and has put together a list of advice on how to avoid it.
Tips include parking if you have a garage, and when you go out, park in a busy, bright area, or if possible, in a fenced area or parking garage. It will be.
If the tank appears to have been excavated (judging from the smell of gas or puddles near the tank), we advise you to take the vehicle to a reliable repair facility as soon as possible.
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Theresa Waldrop, Adrian Broaddas, Alisha Ebrahimji