Thieves drilling into gas tanks to steal 'liquid gold'

[Sportymonk]

From USAToday

http://www.usatoday.com/money/indust...as-tanks_N.htm

By Jeff Karoub, AP Business Writer
DETROIT — Dale Fortin is getting a new kind of customer at his Detroit auto repair shop, customers who have not just been in a fender-bender or had a windshield smashed by a rock.
The soaring price of crude oil has turned gas tanks into a cache of valuable booty, and Fortin has replaced several tanks punctured or drilled by thieves thirsting for the nearly $4-a-gallon fuel inside.

"That's the new fad," said the co-owner of Dearborn Auto Tech in Detroit. "I'd never seen it before gas got up this high."

While gas station drive-offs and siphoning are far more common methods of stealing gas, reports of tank and line puncturing are starting to trickle into police departments and repair shops across the country.

......

Given their height, Fortin said pickups and sport-utility vehicles are more vulnerable to the thieves who puncture the tanks and use a container to catch the fuel.

Plastic tanks are typically the target, he said, since there is less chance of a catastrophic spark, and they are easier to drill.

A design change may also be contributing to the preference for a drill rather than a syphoning hose. The tanks in many vehicles now have check balls, which prevent spills in a rollover accident. They also make siphoning more difficult.

[colorider]

Glad I can park my vehicles in a garage every night!

(Moved from General to Off-Topic)

[krygny]

I remember this happening in the '70s. Usually, it was siphoning (sales of siphon tubes went through the roof) because most cars still didn't have a locking gas cap or inside release. If the car did, they'd use an ice pick, awl or just a hammer and nail. And every so often you'd hear about some PDB literally getting "the 3rd degree" from an [un]fortunate ignition. Almost as satisfying as seeing a matadore getting mauled by a bull or a terrorist getting blown into a fine pink mist (my two personal favorites).