Officials Warn About Gas Thieves Targeting Cars Amidst Increasing Gas Prices
As if it wasn’t bad enough that gas prices were astronomically high and continuing to increase, but the expensive increase has also pushed people to desperate measures!
Not only do we have to be aware of follow-home robberies, but per ABC7, officials are now warning that thieves are turning to steal gas too! They will either target entire gas stations or individual vehicles.
“Always concerned about any type of automotive crimes that could be happening to consumers,” said Doug Shupe of the Auto Club of Southern California. “People pay a lot of money for their vehicles to keep them maintained.”
“They’re paying a lot of money for gasoline so we don’t want drivers to have to experience not only the loss of a full tank of gas, which comes at a high dollar amount these days, but also have to deal with cost of replacing that fuel tank,” he added.
Some thieves are using special vans to drive over the gas pump, and using a trap door underneath to steal from the pump, while others are just stealing straight out of cars.
“We are hearing about more and more reports of gas thefts happening not only in southern California, but also across the country,” Shupe said. “The old fashioned way that thieves would steal gasoline from a vehicle would be to siphon it out of the gas tank, but newer vehicles these days have a rollover valve in the gas tank, which prevents the gasoline from going out of the gas tank.”
To ensure everything is kept safe, drivers are encouraged to park vehicles in garages or where there is surveillance.
“If you do have a vehicle in a driveway, park it in a garage if you have one. If you’re parking in public, look for fenced in areas. Maybe something with a surveillance camera so people can’t get into that secured parking area,” said Shupe.