Shell station reports theft of 7,300 gallons of gasoline

Local Arizona News ^ | Jan. 11, 2004 12:00 AM | Valley News Brief

[Calpernia]

PHOENIX - The theft of 7,300 gallons of gasoline was reported Saturday by the owner of a Shell station in the 5800 block of North 27th Avenue.

"I've never heard about this kind of thing," owner, Chevy Sarna, 53, said. "It was a very big theft."

[Calpernia]

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[Calpernia]

Ping

The theft of 7,300 gallons of gasoline was reported Saturday by the owner of a Shell station in the 5800 block of North 27th Avenue.

[krb]

I didn't do it.

[Support Free Republic]

"Facts are stubborn things, and whatever may be our
wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions,
they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence."
- John Adams -

Make your statement.

[Petronski]

Hmmm. Couldn't it just as easily be a failure of the underground storage tank?

[Calpernia]

Coinciding with the security camera getting 'stuck'?

I guess anything is possible.

[DefCon]

"...the gas, which was taken from tanks below ground level..."
- - -
Somebody better be checking for a leak.

[stboz]

Let us hope this was meer theft for profit.

[sistergoldenhair]

Sounds like he didn't get his last delivery.
Tanker pulls up, puts the hose on the underground tank, collects the cash.
The owner doesn't check his levels, runs out of gas and assumes it was stolen.

[meyer]

This could also be an inside job - the evening attendant signed for a gas delivery, falsified tank depth readings at the end of the shift, and "presto", one truckload of gasoline is missing.

The boss/manager shows up in the morning, takes the stick reading to measure depth, and the gas isn't there.

It would be difficult to pump out the tanks and not be noticed. Then again, everybody in the world could notice the truck sitting there all night and not think twice about it.

[templar]

Hmmm. Couldn't it just as easily be a failure of the underground storage tank?

If so, somjebodys in for a major cleanup expense. I shudder to think of what it would take to clean up 7000 gallons of underground gasoline leakage. Theft should be evident by whether the locks were still on the filler caps or not, I would think. I kinda doubt that anyone could hide that much leakage by pretending it was a theft; for very long anyway.

[sistergoldenhair]

This could also be an inside job - the evening attendant signed for a gas delivery, falsified tank depth readings at the end of the shift, and "presto", one truckload of gasoline is missing.

This would work.
But where's the cash?
Would the owner leave a cash payment for the delivery?

[SJSAMPLE]

Logically, this is one of the worst kinds of theft: high weight, high volume, storage and transport requirements.

The only thing the thief has going for him is that one gallon of gasoline is indiscernable from another.

[meyer]

This would work.
But where's the cash?
Would the owner leave a cash payment for the delivery?

Its been a while since I've been in the gasoline business - about 20+ years. Cash used to be common, but you're probably right in that it isn't used much any more.

[Cvengr]

I agree, accounting error seems more likely. Tanker carries 7500gal, so 7300 reads as though the transfer began and ended with nothing in between.

[yoe]

See any Al-Quada about, your know, dark, swarthy people? It's a mighty big desert............

[Lazamataz]

I admit it.

I drove off without paying.

I'm such a baaaaaaaad boy.

[Ghengis]

Hmmm. Couldn't it just as easily be a failure of the underground storage tank?

I don't believe it is possible for 7300 gallons to seep out into the ground overnight.

[Orangedog]

These transactions were not likely done with cash. Too many problems keeping that amount of cash in the store. Likely the driver of the tanker truck off-loaded this gas stations fuel to a third party, who in turn sold it dirt cheap to some other gas station.