KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- A spike in gas prices has led to a dangerous crime. Thieves have used power drills to drill holes in tanks on vehicles to siphon fuel.

Someone damaged Bob Tavernaro's delivery truck that way. The owner of Theme Party Emporium noticed fluid in his parking lot and found a hole in his gas tank. He lost 40 gallons of gasoline, and had to get the gas tank patched with a screw.

"You can get through the loss of gas," Tavernaro said.

But if someone had tossed a cigarette or a match down, it could have ignited the fuel and caused a fire or explosion, he said.

"It's liquid gold right now. The higher the gas prices get, the more you're going to see of this," said mechanic George Menear.

Menear said he'd been repairing more and more gas tanks along Merriam Lane with the same problem, and he said the thieves themselves were taking risks.

"When you drill the hole, as soon as you get through it, you've got a stream of fuel, and it's going to go everywhere. It's going to go one you, down your arm, down the drill. You've got an electric drill, and even though it runs by battery, it generates a spark. It's an instant bomb. It's going to blow up. You've got fire," Menear said.

Drivers with older tanks can't use screws to repair tanks. Those tanks have to be replaced, which can be costly.

Anyone with any information about gasoline theft along Merriam Lane was urged to call the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS.