Rising Gas Prices Fueling Theft at the Pumps

In just one month, average gasoline prices in the Milwaukee area have risen 13 percent to $3.91. Although gasoline rightly burns in our engines, it’s also burning an unwelcome hole in consumers’ pockets as they head to the pumps.

The vast majority of people simply do their best to grin and bear it as they dole out more cash for the same amount of gas. However, fueled by unsavory prices at the pumps, a growing minority of thieves are simply driving off without paying.

The Menomonee Falls police find themselves on the lookout for these thieves who are increasingly raiding the pumps at local gas stations. Since Jan. 1, police officers have responded to more than 20 reports of drive-offs at local stations, and drive-offs continue to appear weekly in the incident reports.

“I think with the higher prices of gas, this type of thing is more common now,” said Lieutenant Kevin Von Bank of the Menomonee Falls Police. “With that price increase, some people tend not to pay for their gas and are just stealing it.”

A blitz of drive-offs

The gas station, N87W17245 Main St., recently was targeted by a rash of gasoline drive-offs. Within 72 hours, the station was hit twice by organized groups of gasoline thieves.

Between 2:51 p.m. and 3:50 p.m. March 21, five suspects, all in separate vehicles, were caught on camera stealing gasoline one after the next on three different pumps. The five suspects made off with $250 in gasoline in just about an hour, according to police reports.

On March 24, Speedway was hit by another wave of thefts. This time, three drivers made off with roughly $115 in gasoline in less than 15 minutes.

Accounts from witnesses in the police reports indicate that these thefts were far from random occurrences. A clerk at Speedway told police after the March 24 incident that drive-offs seemed to occur around 2 p.m., which is also the same time a delivery truck arrives at the station. When parked, the truck obstructs the attendant’s view of the pumps.

During a follow-up investigation of the March 21 incident, two witnesses that live on Hillcrest Drive and further north on Shady Lane told police they saw a group of individuals and vehicles parked on the street in front of their homes. Both witnesses observed the occupants switching license plates on vehicles that matched the description of those identified on surveillance footage.

Within an hour of the incident that occurred at Speedway March 21, police arrested an 18-year-old Milwaukee man driving a green Chrysler LeBaron for theft. Within minutes of the March 24 trio of thefts, police arrested a 17-year-old male driving a white Pontiac Grand Am and cited him for theft. The driver and his 18-year-old passenger each were cited with possession of marijuana.

Thefts throughout the village

Speedway isn’t the only station targeted by drive-offs recently. Since January, gas stations throughout the village have reported drive-offs.

Among the stations victimized on multiple occasions are the Clark station, N85W16198 Appleton Ave.; gas station, N71W13161 Appleton Ave.; Phillips 66, N75W13916 Appleton Ave. and Woodman’s gas station, W124N8145 Highway 145.

At the Clark station, one of the clerks actually chased the driver and pounded on the window but the driver still drove off.

Since January, Woodman’s has been the target of six separate drive-offs. However, store manager Mike Malafa said he hasn’t noticed an unusual spike in drive-offs.

“I haven’t seen any unusual numbers (of drive-off thefts),” Malafa said. “When it happens, we just call the police and let them know. It’s frustrating because you always want to get paid for your product.”

Representatives with Speedway and the Clark station declined to comment regarding drive-offs at their locations.

Help catch gas-guzzling criminals

According to police records, there are more than 20 unsolved cases of people stealing gasoline. Fortunately, so far, Menomonee Falls Police Lt. Kevin Von Bank said that nobody has been hurt in any of the drive-off incidents. However, catching the thieves is difficult when police have no clear description of the perpetrator or the vehicle.

“We follow up on as many of these as we can,” said Von Bank. “We are making some arrests and we will continue to investigate the open incidents.”

Although suspects are typically caught on surveillance footage, the poor video quality often makes it difficult for police to identify license plates and suspects. Sometimes, the footage of the theft is just not available. The police are asking gas station customers to be on the alert for suspicious activity by patrons who might be attempting to drive off without paying.

“If people can be a good witness and remember details such as the make and model of the vehicle, the license plate number and then make the station attendant aware of their observations, that would be the best thing they could do for us,” Von Bank said. “The employees who are working at the gas station would be able to verify if there was a theft of gas or whether the person actually pre-paid for the gas by credit card. It would then be up to the employees of the gas station to contact the police.”