May 22--Gas stations are seeing a rise in thefts, but it's not the clerks getting held up for cash. These thieves are driving tricked-out minivans or sport utility vehicles, parking over the underground fuel tanks and siphoning away thousands of liquid dollars in the time it takes to grab a hot coffee and go.
The crime is on the rise from Palm Beach County to Miami-Dade, and those in the industry say the thieves are becoming more brazen, striking at urban stores -- sometimes more than once -- in daylight and taking anywhere from 60 gallons to 600 gallons.
With that boldness comes more danger as they tap tanks full of combustible fuel and fumes with make-shift getaway cars that are designed for stealth, not safety.
"That is our biggest concern in all of this -- the safety of our customers and the public," said John Peach, vice president of retail for Miami-based Victory Petroleum, which owns nearly 200 gas stations in South Florida and estimates the company's losses at more than $10,000.
Of Victory's stores, thieves have struck most often in Miami-Dade County, but thefts at its Palm Beach County gas stations rank second, Broward third.
The most recent Victory target? A gas station in Greenacres two weeks ago, Peach said.
The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office is investigating several such thefts, spokeswoman Teri Barbera confirmed. Various other agencies are also pursuing leads.
"This is something that has been going on for years, but the gasoline retailers are telling us they're seeing an increase," said John Fleming, spokesman for the Florida Retail Federation.
South Florida seems to be the hub of activity at the moment, said Jeff Lenard, spokesman for the National Association of Convenience Stores.
"I think the biggest predictor of this type of crime is if you get away with it, you're going to try it again," Lenard said.
And while there have been some arrests, there are many more cases outstanding, Peach said.
"The frequency has increased dramatically in the last couple of months," confirmed Peach. "It has been as frequent as once a week sometimes and I would speculate other companies have seen a similar increase."
As fuel gets more expensive, the market for people who want to buy it cheaper -- albeit illegally -- grows, Peach said.
The thieves primarily target diesel fuel, the price of which has hit an average of $4.04 a gallon from Boca Raton to West Palm Beach, that's up from $3.94 a year ago, according to AAA.
These are not jobs pulled by one individual, but by crews of two or three people.
"Ten years ago, gas theft used to mean somebody peeling out with 10 gallons of gas," Lenard said. But that ended after Hurricane Katrina, when retailers largely ended the practice of allowing motorists to pump before paying. "A new level of theft has emerged. Why steal 10 dollars of gas when you can tap into an underground tank? "
Through video surveillance, Victory officials know they are being hit by more than one "crew" -- one duo targeted stations in Doral, Kendall, Cutler Bay and Miami Gardens -- all in Miami-Dade County. Another has hit stations in Lake Worth and Greenacres.
"We had had other instances of totally new/unique 'crews' appear at stations who we were unable to link to another instance, at least not by the modified car or truck they were using to perform the siphoning," Peach explained in a follow-up email.
Peach described the heists like this:
One or two people go inside to keep an eye on the employees and the control systems while another parks a vehicle with a false floorboard over the manhole-like cover on the tanks.
They break the lock and drop a siphon pump into the tank.
The siphon is hooked up to a motor on the car battery and when they turn the key they can suck 60 to 600 gallons in 10 minutes into awaiting tanks in the back of the vehicle.
All the safeguards in place when someone delivers or retrieves the fuel professionally are gone when the thieves use a motor-driven pump and homemade gasoline tanks to steal it. The vehicle isn't grounded to make sure a spark doesn't ignite the vapors, the carefully constructed gas tanks aren't positioned to be protected in a crash, Peach said.
"It leads to the potential for there to be an explosion. They have an automobile parked on top of our tank with the engine running," Peach said.
The people who pedal fuel are now working more closely with law enforcement to stop the thieves.
"People do get caught. Sometimes in a common traffic stop, sometimes it's the work of local departments," Peach said. "It's a tough crime. The transient nature of South Florida, one big city grid, allows people to quickly disappear and blend."
Copyright 2014 - The Palm Beach Post, Fla.
