High prices lead to spike in major gas thefts in Houston area
New York Post
March 16, 2022
In the Houston area, gasoline is being stolen anywhere it can be found — from gas stations to construction sites — and often ends up on the black market, law enforcement officials said.
“It’s certainly not a coincidence that gas prices are high and we’re seeing this. Anytime that commodities increase in value, their price on the black market increases as well,” said Capt. Jonathan Zitzmann of the Harris County Precinct 4 Constable’s Office.
In the past week, there have been at least two major gasoline thefts with a combined total of $15,000 in stolen gas.
“This is probably the most we’ve seen stolen from a gas station in a while,” Zitzmann said.
On Monday, the owners of a Chevron gas station near Spring, Texas, realized they were short hundreds of gallons of gas, the station owner told KHOU. Surveillance video shows several heavy-duty pickup trucks stealing 1,754 gallons of diesel fuel worth $8,331.50, said the Harris County Precinct 4 Constable’s Office. The thieves used a fuel bypass device.
In another incident, a trap door in a minivan was used to steal gas from underground gas tanks, KHOU reports. Surveillance video shows a dark van parking over the gas tank lids.
“The way they did it was very sneaky. They had a trap door in their vehicle, and they would put a hose down there,” gas station owner Jerry Thayil told KHOU, adding that over several days, the same van stole over 1,000 gallons of fuel.
The stolen gas is often sold on the black marketA third gas heist was thwarted by a law enforcement officer who noticed suspicious activity at a construction site, according to KHOU. Three men were caught with $1,800 in diesel fuel.
1 comment:
At least on most late model vehicles the manufacturers have installed screen blocks to prevent syphoning.
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