Some of us today can travel back 50 years and remember when siphoning gas was a somewhat common occurrence. Fueled by the 1973 oil crisis, the OPEC oil embargo, and the subsequent jump in gas prices caught a lot of folks unawares. There were endlessly long lines at gas stations, even in Tecumseh, and fuel was tough to come by.
To put it into perspective, the price of gas prior to the oil crisis was 38 cents per gallon, the equivalent of $2.55 today. After the gas crisis, that cost jumped to 60 cents per gallon, which would be approximately $4.03 per gallon today.
Siphoning became a widespread method for stealing gasoline from parked cars, trucks, even gas stations. A simple hose was the only tool needed.
Plus, the courage to shove that tube down the neck of the gas tank and suck on it until the gas came out–usually into the mouth of the person attempting to siphon the fuel. I remember hearing about it while growing up in Tecumseh, but I never knew anyone who actually did this.
Gas siphoning declined after peaking in the 1970s, in part due to a drop in oil prices and technological advances and improvements in vehicle security, including locking gas caps and anti-siphon devices. Automakers eventually developed fuel systems featuring anti-siphon devices, making it nearly impossible to stick that tube down the neck of the gas tank and suck out some super-premium juice.
The anti-siphon devices also made vehicles a lot safer in rollover crashes, since they kept gasoline from spilling out and potentially igniting.
People and law enforcement started paying more attention, too, with security cameras and patrols helping deter the crime.
Fast-forward a few decades and the gasoline thieves have found a new way to steal your gasoline: drill a hole in the gas tank and drain it dry.
The anti-siphon or anti-rollover technology means the old-fashioned way of sipping a little high-octane before stealing gas now requires a bit more ingenuity–and a cordless drill.
My sister recently was a victim of this crime. She typically carpools to her job in Ann Arbor a couple of days a week, leaving her vehicle at the park and ride near the intersection of M-50 and M-52. The week of July 22, she returned to her car, got into the vehicle and noticed something stuck under the windshield. When she retrieved it, she found a note. “Your car has a serious gas leak.” The note was unsigned and, my sister immediately noticed, “the word ‘serious’ was misspelled,” she said. “S-E-R-I-O-I-S. It took me a bit to figure out what the person meant. I don’t know if it was the person who drilled the hole being cheeky or another person who noticed the gasoline all around the parking area.”
She didn’t know the extent of the damage until she made it to a nearby gas station.
“I started filling the tank and it went right out the bottom and onto the ground,” she said. “I called American 1 Towing and they came out and we found the perfectly-drilled hole. When I got home, I called the Sheriff’s Department.”
Tecumseh Police Chief Brett Coker said there have been no reports of this type of gas theft in the area. However, over the last two or three years, there have been many reports in urban areas where people are boldly walking around parking lots at night, drills in hand, searching for a likely target.
My sister is awaiting the completion of the repairs on her car and fortunately she has insurance that will cover the damage to her car.
But it still leaves her feeling a bit shook up–and pissed off.
“The theft happened in broad daylight,” she said. “I thought that lot was pretty safe since I park there all the time and there are other cars there, too. Now, I am going to have to find a place to park where I will feel my car is safe yet I don’t have to drive further out of my way.”
SQUIBS 