Gas thefts leave some motorists fuming

Gas thefts leave some motorists fuming
By Lisa Heyamoto -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PDT Saturday, September 10, 2005
Story appeared in Scene section, Page K1

If someone had asked Arlene Shea to spare a gallon of gas, the
52-year-old Orangevale resident says, she would have gladly given over
the goods.

So, did they really have to take a tire iron to her Lexus, pry open
the gas flap and siphon out half a tank while she was sleeping?


Click here for more...
"What ticks me off the most is that they broke the door," Shea says.
"They left me with a big old dent in the side of my car."

Shea's entire cul-de-sac was hit by a gas thief last weekend, with
neighbors waking up to find gas caps strewn on driveways and dangling
from vehicles. A chunk of one neighbor's garden hose had been sawed
off and used as the siphoning tool.

"It's just a sign of the times," Shea says. "Three-dollar gas."

Certainly, as gasoline prices continue to hover around the $3 mark,
there are signs that the illegal practice of gas siphoning is on the
rise. Police say they haven't yet heard of an upswing in local cases,
but the front line of all things automotively annoying - auto parts
stores - is reporting more customers coming in with siphoning
complaints and the corresponding increased sales of locking gas caps.

It's not rampant, they say, and most people are buying the caps as a
precaution rather than a response. Still, there have been enough
instances of a depleted tank to have folks looking into protecting
their cars.

"It's standard reasoning," says Sean Comey, a spokesman for AAA of
Northern California. "When you have a commodity that's increased
dramatically (in price), then it would attract the criminal element."

Terry Smith, manager of the Carquest store on Broadway, says he sold
16 locking gas caps last week, compared with the typical 10.

"It's not a great jump," he says. "I think people are kind of waiting
to see what's going to happen."

Smith himself didn't have to wait long. Someone cut the gas line on
one of his business's trucks last month and tried to drain out its
contents - an unsuccessful strategy, he adds, but one that required
him to replace the line.

"If they got anything, they probably got wet with gas," Smith says.
"You kind of hope they got wet."

After the gas crises of the 1970s, car manufacturers began installing
interior gas-flap releases in response to siphoning problems.

These days, locking gas caps (a cap with a key that sells for $20 to
$50) are a good option to deter thieves, Smith says. Sure, with a
little work they can be removed, but the moment of pause that they
present might be enough to keep your gas safe.

"It's like a car with a Club," Smith says, referring to the anti-theft
device that locks onto a steering wheel. "If you've got two cars side
by side and one has a Club, the one with the Club probably won't get
stolen."

Just keep in mind that the locking gas caps aren't available for every
type of car, and are more prone to leak than regular caps, says Tom
Ramos, owner of Ram Auto Parts in West Sacramento, who nevertheless
says his store is selling more locking caps than usual.

Other precautions include standard theft-prevention techniques such as
parking in well-lit, well-traveled places or in your garage, says the
AAA's Comey. And keep an eye on your gauge to notice if someone's been
siphoning.

Shea and her neighbors have taken to keeping their porch lights on
and, for those who don't use their garages, parking their cars in
their driveways so that they face out toward the street, making access
to the gas cap a little more difficult.

She thinks the siphoning on her street was a crime of opportunity - an
unfortunate one, to be sure, but not one that requires major changes.

"What else are you going to do?" she asks. "I'm not going to move my
car into the backyard."

http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/c...14378960c.html


===
"People who are unable to motivate themselves must be content with mediocrity, no matter how impressive their other talents."
-- Andrew Carnegie, 19th-century robber baron