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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Call it Pump and Run, or Gas and Dash. Whatever the case, police are seeing increasing numbers of gas thefts as the cost of fuel continues to rise.
Fueling up and then leaving without paying has long been a fairly common problem. But Salt Lake Police Detective Jeff Bedard says they've seen a dramatic increase over the last six months.
"It's been a pretty quick jump," Bedard said.
Criminals have become more savvy, too. Some show up with stolen license plates -- or have their plates blacked out -- so they're harder to track down.
"Sometimes they've kept an old plate around, like in the garage, and place it on their vehicle," said Salt Lake County sheriff's deputy Levi Hughes.
As prices along the Wasatch Front hit $4 per gallon, law enforcement officials fear the problem may worsen. Aside from gas drive-offs and license plate switching, officers are keeping an eye out for people puncturing cars to steal the gas.
Earlier this spring, a minivan and a delivery truck owned by Alpine Medical Equipment were sabotaged: one had its gas tank drilled into and another had its fuel line cut. The crime left the company unable to deliver its supply of oxygen tanks, wheelchairs and other equipment to about 30 people.
Not only is puncturing gas tanks illegal, but it's dangerous, officers said. A spark could set off a disastrous fire.
Law enforcement officials are encouraging gas station owners to take preventative measures against gas theft.
Many in Utah have already switched to prepay pumps. Police are also urging stations to install surveillance cameras at their pumps. Cameras, if well-placed, can be a better tool than simply relying on attendants to jot down license plates of thieves. Hughes said that even if one or two letters or numbers is wrong, the thief probably won't get caught because it takes so much time to scroll through all of the plate number variations to find the right one.
Police in Salt Lake say they've been able to close about a dozen gas thefts by using information obtained from video surveillance.
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Information from: Deseret News
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
