Unusual theft of gas at Peterborough carpool lot

Kristi Doyle and her fiancé had quite the shock when they set out on a recent road trip; the noticed their gas tank wouldn’t stay full.

They thought they had a fuel leak, but found something very different when they visited a mechanic.

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The mechanic put the truck on a hoist and then they noticed a one-inch hole drilled into the tank.

“We assume someone went under the truck with a hole-saw and destroyed the gas tank for about 60 bucks worth of fuel,”  Doyle said. “We thought it was a bigger problem and something wrong with the tank and when it was put up on the hoist we realized there was a criminal element involved.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "We assume someone went under the truck with a hole-saw and destroyed the gas tank for about 60 bucks worth of fuel,"  Doyle said. "We thought it was a bigger problem and something wrong with the tank and when it was put up on the hoist we realized there was a criminal element involved."

Doyle and her fiancé use the carpool lot located on Lansdowne Street East and Keene Road daily and say the crime happened sometime July 12 or 13, and it happened in broad daylight.

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Doyle reported the theft to the police and expects from where they parked at the edge of the lot, the thieves hid in the tall grass to steal the fuel.

Peterborough County OPP constable Jason Folz says the crime is one thing but when drilling into and around as gas tank can be dangerous.

“Drilling into a fuel tank is probably not the smartest thing to do,” Folz said. “Gasoline is highly volatile and any kind of spark could either ignite an explosion or fire.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "Drilling into a fuel tank is probably not the smartest thing to do," Folz said. "Gasoline is highly volatile and any kind of spark could either ignite an explosion or fire."

So far police say there haven’t been any similar gas thefts reported in the area but police remind the public if they see anything suspicious at these carpool lots to contact police.

Doyle says she hopes to see the county come and trim the grass around the lot to give it more visibility from the road.