national stop the gas thieves idea

[afterburn 549]

If a gas thief were to steel gas that would stop their engine (and coast time and $ to fix ) would it slow dwn theft of gas ?? If the car no longer runs...maybe they dont need your gas ??
I am thinking everyone set out a decoy gallon can.....with some gas and mostly water.....or some other substance to bring them to a halt......what do ya think ??

[nostatic]

Brian, you have no Rube Goldberg in ya...

[HardDrive]

No, no, no.

Leave the car on the street overnight, with the fuel door open. Thief walks up and thinks, "Easy mark". What he does not know is that you have rerouted the fuel tank openning to a 5 gallon can in the trunk. Lets see, about 90% gas, 5% water, 5% corn syrup should do the trick....

[vangndy]

Ther are ways around locking gas caps, see below. Also heard of thieves cutting the hose at the fuel pump or tank which seems a little safer than drilling a hole in the tank....

By Tony Bizjak -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PDT Thursday, May 11, 2006
Story appeared in Metro section, Page B1

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Sacramento's Tahoe Park area got hit by a late-night oil drilling expedition this week, as thieves made off with gas from several residents' trucks by drilling holes in the tanks.
Wednesday morning, when resident Anthony Vera tried to start his pickup, the fuel gauge showed empty and the pavement under the truck smelled of gas. He discovered a neatly drilled round hole near the bottom of the truck's plastic tank.


Checking the neighborhood, he found two more trucks of the same model with empty tanks and similar holes. Two of the pickups were parked in the neighborhood northwest of Broadway and 65th Avenue, and another farther south on 21st Avenue.
"I thought, Oh, they got him, and him too," Vera said. "The tanks on these trucks are pretty easy to get to."

The irony, he said, is that the trucks have an anti-siphoning device so that thieves can't push a hose into the tank from the filling tube. He said he heard a new gas tank will cost him $500.

"Crazy," Vera said. "It would have cost me less if they had just been able to siphon it."

Sacramento Police spokesman Sgt. Terrell Marshall said he hadn't heard about the gas thefts Wednesday evening, and said police had not noticed any rash of gas thefts in the city.

While the petroleum pilfering may have been well-planned, some say it could have been more dangerous than smart. Risking an explosion or fire-causing spark by drilling into a gas tank "seems to me it would be a dangerous thing to do," said Lt. Marc Adams, El Dorado County Sheriff's spokesman, when told of the incidents.

Officials with several other law enforcement agencies told The Bee they have not been getting increased reports of gas theft, either.

That's despite record high gas prices. Regular unleaded gasoline was going for an average of $3.26 a gallon in Sacramento on Wednesday, according to the AAA Daily Fuel Gauge Report.

At those prices, however, "it wouldn't surprise me if it does happen more now," Adams said.

Officials in El Dorado County did nab an 18-year-old from Cameron Park and a juvenile last weekend after the pair allegedly broke into a storage yard in what appeared to be an attempt to siphon gas from vehicles.

One reason there may be fewer reported siphoning crimes is that gas tank systems on some newer cars block siphoning hoses, a local automobile sales official said.

With Ford vehicles, for instance, "most later model vehicles have baffles in the fuel filter pipe so it is virtually impossible to fit a hose down," said Trent Heth of Elk Grove Ford.

Similarly, employees at three local gas stations report they are not being hit by pump-and-run thefts for a simple reason: Virtually all stations now employ pay-first systems.

Rosemary Dysinger, a Shell station employee in Elk Grove, said a few people try scams, such as asking for their money back claiming someone else got the gas or that they couldn't get the pump to work.

But with pumps controlled and monitored in the office by employees, those scams are unlikely to work. "You have to be really strict now," she said.

Although there have been few reports of gas theft, Sacramento County Sheriff's spokesman Sgt R.L. Davis said it is wise for vehicle owners to take some precautionary steps.

"It comes down to protecting your vehicle," he said. "Put it in a place that is well lit. Make sure your car alarm is sensitive enough so that any movement will activate that alarm. Locking-gas caps are another tool in protecting your vehicle."

Vera, whose truck does have an alarm system, said he will buy a new tank and park his truck in the driveway, where he has a gate.

"They could be back," he said.

[afterburn 549]

see that's my pt....give he m a ez hit......take the whole can ...I just need ideas on ingredients as I just found out sugar dose not actually work..

[widebody911]

Years ago, someone swiped a full gas can from the roof rack of my VW bus. I fileld up another can with gas, put some sugar in it, and put it on the rack, and the next night it was gone. I've also now heard that sugar doens't do anything, but at the time I was filled with warm fuzzies, and that's what counts.

[Joeaksa]

Thom,

Next time fill it with part diesel and part gas. Their car will run for a few minutes then stop... and your warm fuzzies will be real!

[pmajka]

A friend of mine was a repeat victim of gas theft by a known Crack addict loser. a locking gas cap stopped the theft cold.

[vash]

i saw a news report that in the bay area, idiots are drilling thru peoples gas tanks and stealing it that way. mostly trucks and SUV because of the extra ground clearance.

that would suck to need to buy a new fuel tank, on top of the lost fuel. i wish someone would invent a flint impregnated undercoating. SPARK! FOOOSH!

[Superman]

My daughter is interesting. Creative. Enterprising. Entrepeneurial. Practical joker. So far, only 14 years old. She recently described a long litany of practical jokes she has considered. One was to put an empty sugar bag, and spilled sugar, on and under the gas cap of someone's parked car.

Or turn down someone's computer screen one click per day.

Or stretch cellophane over a toilet bowl.

etc. she's got a million of 'em.

[legion]

Originally posted by Superman
Or stretch cellophane over a toilet bowl.

We did that one in college. Really pissed off the roommate who found it! (Especially since he got wet shoes in the process...)

We also had a problem with the same roommate cooking his meals at 3:00 in the morning. He'd bang cabinets and pots and pans while cooking and wake everyone up. (Just because he didn't have any morning classes didn't mean anyone else didn't.) We decided to line all of the cabinet doors with those pop-snap thingies so he was met with a big explosion (we taped about 30 insided each cabinet door) when he slammed a cabinet. Fixed the problem.

We also took all of his stuff out of his dorm room a few years earlier on April Fool's day. He came back from class to find his half of the room completely empty. This was especially a good joke on him, as he was extremely anal about anyone touching his stuff. (He never knew that we would borrow his BMX bike and ride it around the hallways drunk when he was gone...)

We also decided to Pledge the floor outside the elevators when we lived in the dorms one Saturday night in January. It was funny watching the drunk people try to keep their balance...

[afterburn 549]

but what about Moose and Squirrel ?? we need real in put..what would stop a eng ?? not just temporary ???????????????????????

[Superman]

Well, at least you didn't stoop so low as to fill a garbage can with water and lean it against someone's door.

[afterburn 549]

Hmm....now we are on the move 1 for bleach...I just want to gum up the whole engine and fuel sys to cause a complete overhaul....it is all they deserve

[nostatic]

I think adding a bunch of oil would probably get some attention.

how about C4 and a remote detonator? Jack Bauer does it all the time...

[afterburn 549]

........they have laws about ....murder ? LOL though .....and oil will slow them dwn

[sammyg2]

Whatever you do, don't hook a bunch of higher voltage capactors to the gas door of your car and have them discharge when the door is opened.
If you did that it could shock the living heck out of someone trying to steal your gas, and that would be wrong.

[bryanthompson]

say you do something like put bleach or oil in a gas can with the intention of some thief ruining their engine when they steal it from you... is there *any* chance that they'd find some idiot lawyer to make a case against you? I remember hearing about the robber who fell through a skylight, landed on a knife, and sued the homeowner (urban legend, maybe?)

[afterburn 549]

I would deny he stole the gas from me.....how do I know what he is doing on the middle of night...stealing gas, hurting him self, makeing up stories.....

[bryanthompson]

lol, true... true