Posted on 03/16/2022 3:01:31 PM PDT by lowbridge
The manager of a family-owned gas station in Houston, Texas, chased off suspected thieves, who he said had already taken more than a thousand gallons of diesel fuel from the store's underground tanks in separate incidents.
Jerry Thayil, whose father owns the Fuqua Express station, told CNN the thieves hit the station three days in a row last week and got away with between $5,000 and $6,000 worth of fuel.
They tried for a fourth time on Friday, but Thayil ran after them. Surveillance video shows him racing across the store's parking lot as a dark colored minivan drove off.
"I didn't want to just let them hit us again and lose another $1,200, $1,300," he said. "So I decided I would do something about it and I ran out there and chased them away."
The thefts come as police in the US are warning drivers to take steps to protect their vehicles from possible gas thieves as fuel prices surge to historic levels.
Thayil said he noticed discrepancies in the station's fuel levels on Wednesday and Thursday.
He went through the station's security footage and saw a dark minivan park on top of the lids covering the opening to the station's tanks on the days the fuel went missing.
Thayil said the van apparently was equipped with a trap door so the occupants could get to the tank and pump out the fuel without being seen. They were able to get away with 300-350 gallons of diesel fuel at a time, he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
Yep, we are seeing a repeat of Jimmy Carter.
Locking gas caps
Title says 1,000 gallons. They came back several times.
I know it does, but at the prices people are paying today it may as well be a jerry can.
I thought the hyperbole would be catchable without a sarcasm tag.
I doubt anybody would notice a “low rider” minivan down in Texas. I do know from my junkyard adventures those are the favorite ride of hispanic families.
True but street criminals have never been known to do those rocket scientist calculations...
Crappy story as there is not even a mention of any attempt to catch the thieves and arrest them.
This reminds me of a scam the mob did with olive oil a couple of decades ago. They would steal oil from a large supplier that stored the oil in underground tanks. The tanks were inspected by opening them up and visually seeing the level of the oil. Since water is more dense than oil it will sink to the bottom, what the mob simply did was pump out an equal amount of oil and replace it with water.
Might want to read the article.
I did read the article, but I assumed that most Freepers would have understood hyperbole. $1,000 in diesel is what would fill a semi.
I think your joke is one month too soon.
Yes!
A 1,000 gallon jeryy can!
I’d wager he is no longer unarmed!
The year (1968) I got my first driver’s license at age 16, diesel fuel at the local truck stop was 9.9 cents per gallon. Regular gasoline was around 24.9.
WOW I remember 25 cent gasoline from the 60s, but can’t recall diesel prices. No wonder so many homes were heated with fuel oil back then.
In Houston? Sarcasm, right?
Just a little I guess.
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