Gas thievery has gone high-tech across the country as thieves in vans are stopping their vehicles over underground gas station tanks and pumping the high-priced fuels out of the ground. Police say the thieves park vans over the tanks, either drill holes or open existing pipe covers and through a hole in the back of their vans, begin pumping their own gas from the large tanks below.
In Houston, a green van can be seen in the surveillance video Thayil provided to KHOU 11 News. He said the video shows the way the thieves pulled it off.“They had a trap door in their vehicle and they would put a hose down there and suck it out with the pump,” he said.
People are also drilling holes in gas tanks to steal gas.
Last week, in Canada, a Winnipeg daycare is out thousands of dollars after someone siphoned gasoline from three of its vans by drilling holes in the tanks, in a crime city police say they’re watching for as the price at the pump continues to soar.
“Gas and Dash” thefts are also expected to rise as fuel prices continue to soar.
Police and small retailers are preparing for an increase in “gas-and-dash” thefts as gasoline prices across Canada soar following sanctions against Russia that have put the squeeze on global oil supply,” Global News reports. “The invasion of Ukraine just over two weeks ago has prompted some countries, including the United States, to ban imports of Russian oil or to move toward phasing them out.”