DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) – Gas has become so expensive, it’s starting to entice more thieves to steal it right out of your vehicle.
That’s what some people who live in an area of North Dallas called Bent Tree West are telling us.
If you don’t have a locking gas cap it’s easy for someone with the right equipment to get access to what you might’ve just paid up to a $100 for at the pump.
Driving to work is about all Caroline Self says she uses her SUV for since the price of gas started soaring.
“I put $10 in I don’t even get half a quarter for my car and sometimes that’s all I can afford,” said Self, a Dallas resident.
So her jaw dropped when she prepared to go to work recently and found that someone had emptied out her gas tank.
“I was devastated,” Self said. “It’s hard enough to afford gas right now and I used my last dollar on that so it’s really heartbreaking these thieves go on doing this.”
Videos posted online of people caught on camera siphoning gas from vehicles show that even though it’s not a highly reported crime, it does happen.
Other residents around Self’s neighborhood have also complained about being victimized.
Self thought it was a rare case of bad luck for her until she said a week later, thieves came back and emptied her tank again.
“I was thinking it wouldn’t actually happen this many times to me,” Self said.
Car experts say most vehicles produced since 2015 have fuel tanks that prevent siphoning.
Self’s older model SUV doesn’t have that protection but will have a locking gas cap as soon as she can afford to buy one.
Even locking gas caps aren’t foolproof.
Some thieves are using power drills to actually create a hole underneath the gas tank and drain it.
