No siphon needed: Thieves drilling into gas tanks

[johnnymk]

http://www.abcactionnews.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=645050b1-e004-4fa0-a42a-dfe2da9db664

TAMPA -- It sometimes takes a close inspection to find the breach.

But Carey Bates says he has found them on a number of tampered tanks. Thieves are tapping directly into them, thirsting for the expensive fuel inside.

"It's usually about dime-size or smaller," Bates said. "There will be nothing left. Totally dry."

While siphoning is the more widely known method of stealing gas, repair shops are seeing more cases of tank puncturing trickling in. They say it only takes a few minutes to hammer or drill a small hole into a vehicle's tank and drain the gas into another container.

That's just what happened to Bob Tavernaro's delivery truck. Thieves stole more than $100 worth of his fuel.

"Very frustrating," Tavernaro said. "We had deliveries to do that morning. We just have one truck."

Given their height, trucks and SUV's are the most vulnerable targets, and mechanics say plastic tanks are the easiest to puncture. They're also the most common kind of tank found in cars today.

To add insult to injury, once a tank is breached it can't be repaired. It can only be replaced. A new tank can cost anywhere between $300-$500.

If this were to happen to you, experts say the first thing you'd notice is a strong smell of gas around your car. You might even see some leftover fuel leaking from under the vehicle.

Experts say use common sense to avoid becoming a victim. That includes parking in well-lit areas or in a place where there is a good amount of surveillance.

[InfiniteNothing]

One spark and your car blows up.

[Daedalus]

I don't really get it. If a thief does this to 100 cars, he might find $50 worth of gas on average per car. How much of this can he actually take? Does he have a 10 gallon bucket? It just seems like a lot of work and risk for not much money. A thief could instead steal a set of aftermarket rims and sell them for hundreds. I know thieves are stupid on average, but still... :confused:

[lindysd]

One spark and your car blows up.

just another way to promote the thinning of the herd!:stupid:

[guiseppewv]

I say increase the fines and jail time on offenses like this.

On a "lighter" note: Thinning the herd will occur when they use a lighter or match to examine the tank at night to make sure they got all the gas? :heh:

[gwilks98]

Here's the great part.

The reason why the thieves aren't siphoning is because on SUVs, there's a roll protection feature that keeps the gas from spilling out should you find yourself upside down.

So what do we do? Let's just ruin the gas tank completely while taking crap that isn't ours.

Nice, huh?

The penalty for being that big of a prick needs to be death. Two in the chest, one in the head, in the center of town.

That'll stop that, real fast.

[DarkFury]

Also, it's much easier to get underneath a truck or SUV versus a car (which usually sits lower to the ground).

Dayuum... now I gotta think about putting airbags on my truck so that I can slam it to the ground when I park. GEEZ!!! :2far:

[Markel]

Hmmm...some kind of device that sparks near the underside of the gas tank every 10 seconds or so....

[Maarchk]

I don't really get it. If a thief does this to 100 cars, he might find $50 worth of gas on average per car. How much of this can he actually take? Does he have a 10 gallon bucket? It just seems like a lot of work and risk for not much money. A thief could instead steal a set of aftermarket rims and sell them for hundreds. I know thieves are stupid on average, but still... :confused:

I imagine they put it in a specially build car or truck, you see things rigged to hold 100 gallons. perhaps they sell it to shady friends who have their own fuel pumps like at trucking or construction yards. or they hold onto it for personal use? Cause i don't think any gas station would buy gas from a dude in a funny looking car. But i'm sure there is a market for 4 dollar gas in cali since at the cheapest around here its 4.50.

[DarkFury]

Hmmm...some kind of device that sparks near the underside of the gas tank every 10 seconds or so....
Yeah.. and blow up your whole vehicle. :hmm:

Not too bright an idea I'd think...

[DarkFury]

I don't really get it. If a thief does this to 100 cars, he might find $50 worth of gas on average per car. How much of this can he actually take? Does he have a 10 gallon bucket? It just seems like a lot of work and risk for not much money. A thief could instead steal a set of aftermarket rims and sell them for hundreds. I know thieves are stupid on average, but still... :confused:
The folks doing this probably are just filling their own tanks with the gas to keep from buying it at the station.

I doubt that they are selling this gas on the black market. And as far as "ten gallon" buckets go... well what if this guy has a holding barrel on the back of a pickup truck (and you could easily disguise that with a camper shell.) You drain enough gas from enough cars and you could keep your own gas tank full for weeks at a time after hitting a row of cars/trucks.

[Daedalus]

I didn't mean to imply they're selling it. I'm sure most or all of it is used by the thieves. I was just saying if I was a thief I would find better opportunities...like taking the rims or smashing a window, grabbing the stuff in the car, and selling the stuff, using the money to buy gas. Again it seems like a lot of work and risk for what is certainly a limited payoff. Smash a window and you *might* find a laptop. Puncture a tank and you'll find around $100 of gas at most.

[DarkFury]

I didn't mean to imply they're selling it. I'm sure most or all of it is used by the thieves. I was just saying if I was a thief I would find better opportunities...like taking the rims or smashing a window, grabbing the stuff in the car, and selling the stuff, using the money to buy gas. Again it seems like a lot of work and risk for what is certainly a limited payoff. Smash a window and you *might* find a laptop. Puncture a tank and you'll find around $100 of gas at most.
Thing is.. if they are sneaky enough, they can steal gas this way and nobody would even know that a theft occurred until the owner tries to crank the vehicle.

Broken glass and car alarms going off are a dead giveaway and can possibly lead to someone noticing a crime in progress... but someone hiding under a car with an electric drill stealing gas? Nobody is really gonna notice that until it hits them directly.

Hell if you saw someone underneath a car, you might think that they were trying to repair it or something in broad daylight and not even give 2 thoughts about it. See them smashing a window or putting the car on bricks to steal the wheels and you'd probably call the cops.

[mechmike0034]

The reason why the thieves aren't siphoning is because on SUVs, there's a roll protection feature that keeps the gas from spilling out should you find yourself upside down.

All vehicles, not just SUVs - this is part of FMVSS Standard 301 (http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/rules/import/fmvss/index.html#SN301).


Passenger Cars (Effective 1-1-68), Multipurpose Passenger Vehicles, Trucks, and Buses with a Gross Vehicle Weight Rating of 4,536 kg (10,000 lbs.) or less (Effective 1-76), and School Buses with a Gross Vehicle Weight Rating greater than 4,536 kg (10,000 lbs.) (Effective 4-1-77)

Some vehicles use a filler-neck check ball to decrease evaporative emissions. Evaporated gasoline = hydrocarbon vapor which is a regulated pollutant.

This is more than anyone needed to know, but just thought I'd throw it out... It's what I do!

[mechmike0034]

One spark and your car blows up.

The article does mention that most modern automotive and light truck fuel tanks are plastic. No sparks from the drill... :)

[renovation]

I didn't mean to imply they're selling it. I'm sure most or all of it is used by the thieves. I was just saying if I was a thief I would find better opportunities...like taking the rims or smashing a window, grabbing the stuff in the car, and selling the stuff, using the money to buy gas. Again it seems like a lot of work and risk for what is certainly a limited payoff. Smash a window and you *might* find a laptop. Puncture a tank and you'll find around $100 of gas at most. some of these same people are stealing catalytic converters .they slide under a suv or pick up truck with a cordless sawzall and under a min .they can net a cool $50 - $150 or more from a scrap yard. and then they also empty your gas tank . your out your insurance deductable and if your lucky you have a rental car rider on your policy. and dont forget the time and hassle to get the car to the shop and the police report ,call to your insurance company. and lastly the dreaded did they raise my rate over this BS !:mad3:

[Chgoman]

The main cars hit by the catalytic coverter theifs are Tundras and Tacomas. Most companies weld weld the exhaust pipe to the converter, but Toyota bolts them. Power drill and about 2 minutes and you too can be the prowd owner of a used catalytic converter.

[The Happy Squirrel]

The main cars hit by the catalytic coverter theifs are Tundras and Tacomas. Most companies weld weld the exhaust pipe to the converter, but Toyota bolts them. Power drill and about 2 minutes and you too can be the prowd owner of a used catalytic converter.

sure ill take one mine jsut went out <although it might be to 02 sensor>