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  1. #1
    Senior Member AirborneSapper7's Avatar
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    Thieves drilling car tanks in attempt to steal gas

    May 27, 2008, 9:40PM

    Thieves drilling car tanks in attempt to steal gas

    More cases of punctured, drained car tanks reported as gas price soars

    By JEFF KAROUB
    Associated Press

    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," he said. "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.

    Sparks could be dangerous
    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.

    In recent weeks, police in Denver arrested two suspects in connection with about a dozen cases of damaging tanks and stealing gas.

    Denver police Detective John White sees this "new way of siphoning gas" as a bigger problem.

    "What made this particular method so dangerous and concerning for us was the way in which they were doing it — using cordless drills to puncture holes in these tanks," he said of the rash of cases his department has investigated this spring. "The heat, friction generated could have easily sparked a fire. It just made for a dangerous situation for the suspects and the community."

    Tank puncturing has yet to reach the radar screens of many law enforcement organizations. Still, at least one insurance company has taken notice: AAA Mid-Atlantic issued a press release earlier this month that cited a case in April in Bethesda, Md., involving a thief who broke the fuel line underneath a car and sapped five gallons of gas. Police said a bus in the same parking lot had 30 gallons of diesel stolen.

    http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nation/5804588.html
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  2. #2
    Senior Member AirborneSapper7's Avatar
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    PRECAUTIONS

    Vehicle gas tanks are the latest target for gasoline thieves, who long have preferred to drive off from the gas station without paying or to siphon the gas from a vehicle's tank. Experts say there's no sure-fire way to ward off thieves thirsting for your $4-a-gallon-and-rising gas, but offer these tips:

    • Park your vehicle in a garage, attended parking lot or in a lighted area.

    • Vary your parking routine.

    • Check the fuel gauge when returning to vehicle to make sure gas hasn't been stolen.

    Source: AAA Mid-Atlantic
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