An after-hours theft resulted in a Winston-Salem gas station losing 400 gallons of gas. | RODNAE Productions/Pexels
An after-hours theft resulted in a Winston-Salem gas station losing 400 gallons of gas. | RODNAE Productions/Pexels
As the price of gasoline continues to rise, thieves are getting bolder when it comes to absconding with the fuel. When it comes to individual auto owners, thieves have long siphoned gas by drilling holes in the car’s gas tanks. But stations aren’t immune to the stealing, as Hard Patel, owner of the Biz Bee Grocery and BP in Winston-Salem, learned the other day.
Thieves waited until after the Biz Bee was closed, then proceeded to steal nearly 400 gallons of gas, Fox 8 reported.
“It lasted about 45 minutes, until the police found out they were here,” Patel told Fox8. "But between that time, there were maybe 15 cars probably.”
A security camera shows a person walking around helping people get gas in their vehicles. Before too long, cars lined up to get free gas, the news station reported.
Patel said police were called by a regular customer of the station who had rarely seen the station host that many cars at once. He suspected the convoy of cars of some sort of wrongdoing.
Petroleum Technician Trey Barker told the news station the thieves used a special remote that can alter the gas pump and put it in "dispense mode."
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