Gas station owners say thieves stole more than 4.5K litres of fuel

As the price of gasoline skyrockets, a group of thieves have allegedly stolen over 4,500 litres of gasoline (1,000 gallons) from a Texas gas station.

The family-owned Fuqua Express Chevron in southwest Houston, TX, claims it was hit on three separate occasions before manager Jerry Thayil chased thieves away, KHOU 11 News reported.

“The way they did it was very sneaky. They were doing it in front of so many people — so many different customers,” Thayil told KHOU 11.

In surveillance video from outside the gas station, Thayil recognized a suspicious van on the property three days in a row. In the footage, the van can be seen accompanied by what Thayil says is a lookout vehicle at the pumps.

The suspicious vehicle is recorded as it drives over the gas station’s fill caps where fuel is stored underground and using a suction device, thieves were able to siphon gas.

“They had a trapdoor in their vehicle and they would put a hose down there and suck it out with the pump,” he said. During each visit, Thayil said the thieves were at the gas station for 15 to 20 minutes at high-traffic times.

The manager alleges the thieves stole nearly 1,600 litres (350 gallons) at each visit.

On Friday, the thieves visited the gas station for the fourth time but Thayil, who was in the office, chased the vehicle off the property.

He says the heists cost the business about US$5,000 (CAD$6,390) in lost revenue.

“In this kind of job, every penny counts. We can’t afford to lose a single more gallon,” Thayil said.

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Houston authorities are currently searching for the vehicles associated with the fuel theft.

In Canada, gas prices continue to reach all time highs. Prices in British Columbia and Newfoundland are nearing the $2 mark, with other provinces such as Ontario and Quebec closely following suit, according to GasBuddy.

Today, the Canadian Automobile Association (CAA) reported the national average as $1.77 per litre.