Prices are up - should you be guarding your gas?

When Yuma resident Pedro Cano went out to the carport of his apartment one recent Saturday morning, he discovered that thieves had broken off his locking gas cap and nearly emptied his tank of gas.

Cano, who drives a 1979 Oldsmobile station wagon, said he noticed that the flap to the gas cap was open and that when he tried to start his car, the engine started but the needle of the fuel gauge was on empty.

"I can't say it won't happen again, because it probably will," the 61-year-old Cano said. "I'm not surprised it happened, either, due to the high price of gas these days."

Although he did not report the theft to his apartment manager or the police department, Cano said he'd filled up his car the day before.

"It usually costs me about $15 to $16 to fill up. The only place I drove the day before was to the gas station," said Cano, who is disabled and lives on a fixed income. "But I never let the tank go completely empty. I usually fill up when I'm down to a quarter of a tank."

Not only can Cano not afford to buy more gas, he said, he also can't afford to replace the locking gas cap that the thieves broke.

"I can only afford to pay my rent, bills and buy some groceries each month. I'm going to have to wait until next payday to buy another lock. It's a good thing that I kept the original gas cap because that is what I'm using now."

But while some places around the country are seeing an increase in gasoline thefts due to high prices, law enforcement agencies say they haven't seen it happening here in the Yuma area, at least not yet.

"It's definitely not outside the realm of possibility that it could happen here, but it doesn't seem to be," said Officer Clint Norred of the Yuma Police Department.

Norred said so far this year, there have been only two cases of gas thefts, one of a five-gallon can of gas from a car and another by credit card fraud.

The most common form of gas theft is what is known as a "drive off," where someone fills up the car and drives off from the pump without paying. It is also sometimes known colloquially as "fill and fly" or "gas and go."

Norred added that the reason YPD isn't seeing these type of drive-off thefts is because many gas stations now require customers to pay before they pump or to use a debit or credit card.

Capt. Eben Bratcher of the Yuma County Sheriff's Office added that gas drive-offs were a problem many years ago. But the sheriff's office worked with local businesses to instill the change in procedure.

"In part I think we were successful in changing the habits of customers," Bratcher said. "It's a good policy to require customers to pay ahead of time because it reduces the amount of gas thefts."

Here in Yuma, drivers who leave a gas station without paying for their fuel face a misdemeanor theft charge, which is punishable by up to six months in jail and a fine.

According to AAA, the average cost of a gallon of regular unleaded in Yuma a year ago was $2.99 compared with $3.53 Friday.

To protect that gas after you pump it, both Norred and Bratcher suggest getting a locking gas cap to help cut down on the second most common type of gas theft, which is siphoning.

"They aren't completely thief- or tamper-proof, but it is another deterrent," Norred said.

In the method known as siphoning, thieves use part of a hose and stick it down a car's gas tank. They then suck the air out and the hose empties the gas into another tank.

Unfortunately, according to Bratcher, it is difficult to prosecute someone who is suspected of siphoning gas from a car because they have to be caught in the act.

Newer cars, Norred said, are typically equipped with what is know as a check valve. It prevents siphoning because it won't allow a hose to get into the gas tank. Unfortunately, Norred said, older-model vehicles aren't equipped with them.


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James Gilbert can be reached at
jgilbert@yumasun.com or 539-6854.