Gasoline Thefts Rising

NACSonline
Mar 2, 2012

High pump prices have triggered increasingly bold robberies of gasoline.

TAMPA, Fla. – As fuel prices continue creeping up, gasoline thefts are becoming more prevalent, The Daily, a new tablet-native national news brand, reports. A BP station in Tampa nearly lost 450 gallons of gas when a minivan, with a hole in its floor, parked over the underground storage tank and thieves attempted to siphon off fuel into plastic drums. Alert police officers stopped the robbery, but the suspects managed to get away.

“It was like a James Bond movie where they parked on top of the gas tank, dropped a hose and an electric pump and there they go,” said Lt. Larry McKinnon of the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Department. “If the prices start going up, it’s basic police 101 — we know that thefts are going to start increasing.”

While people have been stealing gasoline for years, the way in which the robberies take place have evolved, said Jeff Lenard, NACS spokesman. Drive-off thefts—filling a vehicle’s tank and leaving without paying—used to be the most common way gas was stolen. But soaring gasoline prices have led to larger thefts.

“The idea is ‘Why steal two gallons for a fill-up when there’s 10,000 gallons in an underground storage tank?’ ” said Lenard. “It’s a sign of the value of the gas. It’s not a sign of desperation. They are transporting to a meeting place and finding out how to sell it.”

From Carthage, N.C. to Glen Burnie, Md., gasoline retailers have experienced larger-scale fuel thefts. In late February in New York City, a police officer stopped Mauro Navarro at the Whitestone Bridge tollbooth plaza after smelling strong gas fumes and noticing an expired registration. Investigators found 410 gallons of gas in the vehicle, which law enforcement attributed to part of a black market gasoline ring.