As the price of gas goes up, so is siphoning. However, gas thieves are discovering that their targets aren’t giving up without a fight. Several suspects fled in Davis on Friday when a group confronted them – leaving their equipment and siphoned gas behind.
The gas thieves may have thought a trio of white vans parked in front of business owner Mike Cagley’s house was the jackpot. However, when trying to drain the tank, they didn’t get very far.
Cagney is the owner Destiny Entertainment, a DJ company. He and his employees often stay late in their in-house studio. A friend stopped there on Friday at 11:30pm, as Destiny received a call that was warning them of suspicious people being close to the company vans.
“As we were running to the van,” said Mark Storm, “I saw a can on the ground and a hose into the gas tank. At that point, we heard some rustling in the bushes.”
The alleged thieves came from the nearby trees and jumped into their cars, driving fast away from the vans, Storm continued.
“We didn’t want to step in front of them” Tim Steele stated.
The thieves left, leaving their equipment that includes a gas can behind. Authorities in Davis took the items in as evidence, and said they were searching for the suspects’ car: a dark Honda Accord and a metallic-colored Sedan with partial license plates numbers given by the witnesses.
The police also said that there has a rise in siphoning. However, the reason it’s not becoming an important problem is because of more drivers buying locking gas caps.
“Gas siphoning has been happening since there’s been gasoline,” Steele commented, “but with the recent price hike in the last week, it’s been happening a lot, apparently.
Source: CBS 13
