Yahoo Autos Gas Thieves Start A Raging Fire
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It seems like the rash of gas thefts we saw a couple years ago faded into the background, that is until suddenly we’ve seen the trend flare up again. Whenever people start stealing fuel from parked vehicles there’s instances of fires literally sparked by carelessness and we already have one of those out of Seattle.
Shoplifters flee from police in a Ford Mustang.
Thieves targeted the tank of a truck sitting at a small business in Seattle in the early morning hours of October 6. Not only did they not end up getting the gas, they set the truck they were siphoning on fire and scorched their own pickup in the process.
You can see in the surveillance footage the business shared with Fox 13 Seattle as the thieves reverse through a wall of flames, fire licking the fenders and even burning brightly on the getaway vehicle’s tires.
We’re sure this did damage to the suspects’ truck, although it’s hard to say just how much. As for the small business, not only was the targeted truck damaged, so was a second one, all to the tune of about $50,000.
That’s right, a quest to get gas that probably costs less than $200 led to that much damage for the victim. We’re sure the suspects incurred more than $200 in damages to their ride as well.
The owner of that business is frustrated, saying he’s been targeted by thieves repeatedly recently. In the matter of just eight days, he had $10,000 of equipment stolen and five trucks swiped. We can understand why the guy is frustrated.
What we’re wondering is why gas theft has suddenly popped back on the radar after it’s been quiet. We covered a story about some fuel thieves in Southern California and now in Seattle. Here’s to hoping this isn’t the edge of a new wave of gas thefts but instead are just isolated freak incidents.
Image via Fox 13 Seattle/YouTube
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