Man gets caught with custom-built gas-stealing truck
With gas prices exceeding $4 per gallon, it's no surprise that fuel stealing is on the rise. What's amazing is the lengths to which thieves are willing to go to swindle the pricey commodity in larger-than-normal quantities. An Orlando man was recently arrested for having a hidden, professionally welded 800-gallon gas tank retrofitted to a Ford truck that police say was expressly used for stealing petrol. The man also had a key that disables pump meters, which should scare the hell out of gas station owners.
He was caught after a Hess gas station attendant became suspicious of the inordinate amount of time he was spending pump-side and called the police. Law enforcement officials say that due to the elaborate setup of the gas-stealing truck and the theif's possession of the pump meter-disabling key, he is likely one part of a larger gas-stealing syndicate that resells the fuel for profit. It isn't surprising that some unscrupulous folks would be attracted to the possibility of netting $3,200 in about a half hour, but since they are going to so much trouble to remain undetected, you'd think they wouldn't try to steal all the gas at once. Thanks for the tip, Eric!
[Source: Local6]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
John R 10:08AM (6/19/2008)
screw the elaborate apparatus. i just want the key.
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Alex 10:24AM (6/19/2008)
meet me out back, bring $500...
TJ 10:09AM (6/19/2008)
I've bought speakers out of the back of a van before... not sure I would buy gas from those same guys though...
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Vintage 10:34AM (6/19/2008)
Sucker.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_van_speakers
Keat 10:40AM (6/19/2008)
^^hahahah^^
rouse42 10:51AM (6/19/2008)
my friend use to drive one of those vans. haha.
they have some generic ass speakers made in china. and put them in a fancy box with a knockoff name.
he did this for a year until some guys put a gun to his gut and stole everything.
TJ 11:25AM (6/19/2008)
@vintage: um... it was a joke, dude.
sw 10:09AM (6/19/2008)
Screw the key, I want an electric car comparative to the gassers of today (just a silly dream for now)
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Chris 10:10AM (6/19/2008)
seriously??? he tried to fill the 800 gallon tank at one station?? what a genius......
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Alex 10:22AM (6/19/2008)
No kidding. The pump runs at something like 10gpm and he wants to fill 800 gallons?! Yeah, i would hope an attendant would wonder why the truck was there for over an hour.
Gregg 10:23AM (6/19/2008)
People like this guy tend to have more balls than brains. He prolly found on previous fills that no one got suspicious or seemed inclined to take the time to call the cops. It is amazing what unethical people get away with because they have the cojones to go ahead and just do it.
zamafir 10:36AM (6/19/2008)
a few weeks ago some guys filled up 400 gallons of small drums inside their horse trailer not to far from my place, cops are still looking for them.
TwinTurboVR4 11:52AM (6/19/2008)
zamafir: why would the cops care? as long as he paid for it.
Or did he have a fancy key too?
Chris 11:58AM (6/19/2008)
becasuse thats their job.....
gabe ramos 10:24AM (6/19/2008)
STILL he complained about how much gas it took to fill his truck
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rouse42 10:39AM (6/19/2008)
back in the day my friend had an F150 with dual tanks. he would pull up to the pump and grab the pump from the other side and start pumping both tanks.
then he would go into the attendant and say, ahh its the red truck out there. ok sir that will be $25. this was back in the mid-late 90's when gas was only just over a buck.
we used the truck for work so it would need both tanks filled like 3-4 times a week. worked everytime.
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Keat 10:39AM (6/19/2008)
^^LOL!^^
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Kotse 11:53AM (6/19/2008)
Daym! Thieves hell bent on sucking these stations dry are all over America it seems...
Just a couple of days ago, in Burbank, CA..the same "modus" operandi in a Chevy van with two huge storage tanks and all the necessary contraptions...
But they're sucking up for the jackpot here in CA...diesel going for $5.60+/gal!
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rouse42 10:51AM (6/19/2008)
there's probably a whole fleet of these things running around, like the ice cream truck.
i wanna know more about this key. did he have to open the front door of the pump or does it turn to a different position, lock unlock bypass.
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Kitko 10:54AM (6/19/2008)
A Hummer stops at the gas station, a man jumps out, puts the nozzle into a tank, locks it and waits. An hour later, the owner of the stations is getting nervous, but since the guy and his car are firmly glued to the pump, he doesn't take any action. Another hour passes. And another one.
After 4 hours, the owner of the station gets out, walks to the Hummer guy, taps gently on his shoulder and says:
"Sir, what about switching off the engine....?"
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