High Gas Prices May Lead to Siphoning, Drive-off Activities

With the price of gas slowly increasing, there could be a chance that desperate people could be siphoning fuel out of your gas tank. Pulaski County Sheriff Michael Gayer said there have been isolated siphoning incidents in the area.

“I know, in particular, a mobile saw mill had several hundred gallons of diesel fuel stolen from their tank over a weekend and that was probably a direct consequence of the rising gas prices,” said Sheriff Gayer.

Several of the gas stations have gone to alternative payment selections because of drive-offs.

“A lot of the gas stations went to ‘pay at the pump’ or ‘pay inside first’ before you can get any fuel out at the pump in order to ward off any type of drive-offs. There have been some isolated drive-offs in the county, but the gas stations around Pulaski County have taken the measure to install security cameras and other devices that makes it a little easier for us in law enforcement to track down the people and get them back to pay for their fuel.”

If you drive-off without paying, it is a punishable offense.

“Any time you take something from anybody is a theft and it’s a Class D Felony which is punishable up to four years in prison. It’s very serious offense. If you have a record and you had another D felony on top of what you already have, more than likely the courts are not going to suspend any time and you will be convicted of a felony and be incarcerated for a period of time.”

Sheriff Gayer guarantees that even though the gas prices may be high, the officers will continue routine patrols.

“We will never jeopardize patrols and what we do for the public. We would take action in the budget in other places in order to keep the gasoline in the cars and the guys out patrolling.”