KCTV 5Thieves find new way to steal gas out of cars

People might have heard of thieves siphoning gas, but now some are taking it to a new level, one that is more costly, more dangerous and much more destructive.

Gas was leaking out of Pamela Reed's car outside her home near West 109th Street and Quivira Road in Overland Park.

"Very surprised... that evening police and fire knocking on my door saying something happened to my car," Reed said.

Reed had just filled up earlier that afternoon after noticing the tank on empty, even though Reed was almost positive she had more gas than that.  She didn't think much of it until she saw it pooling in the parking lot.

Then she knew, as did police, her car had been tampered with. Her neighbor's girlfriend, Renee Petrik, was on 135th Street in thick traffic when her car suddenly died.

"It was misting and nasty and getting cold. I called AAA, and they tried a battery, but that wasn't it.  The dealership didn't have any idea," Petrik said.

It took a day-and-a-half for the repair shop to pinpoint the problem.

Someone drilled a hole in Petrik's gas tank.

"I guess it was just like a pencil. Enough to destroy the tank... with labor and everything it was close to $1,400," she said.

At least four cars were hit at the Claremont apartment homes.

Overland Park police say the thieves go underneath and drill a hole in the plastic tanks, and then the suspect fills up a bucket with the stolen gas and moves on to their next target.

Police have had about a half a dozen reports in just the last week. In neighboring Olathe, that number is more than tripled, with 20 reports taken so far, but police say they did catch a break.

A neighbor actually confronted the suspected in the act outside one of the victims homes. The suspect got away with his bucket, but the witness got a good description.

"It is time consuming. You have to get a rental. It disrupts work, and it disrupts your life," Petrik said.

It is too late to avoid the hassle for victims like Petrik, but there is still hope that whoever did this will not get away with it, police say.

"I just want to be compensated. Let us inconvenience you," Petrik said.

It might be a toss-up whether siphoning gas or taking a drill to a gas tank requires less common sense, but the drill adds quite a bit of cost and additional criminal charges if and when the person is caught.

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