New fad: Don't pay at pump Robert Perez of The Sentinel Staff

Published in The Orlando Sentinel on March 18, 2000

With gas prices creeping closer to the $2 mark, it was just a matter of time before more and more people started driving off without paying.

And the profile of some gas thieves may hit uncomfortably close to home.

In the past, station employees could tell who might drive off without paying by the car they drove or how they behaved. Vehicles with license plates obstructed or drivers pulling up to pumps farthest away from cashiers, especially at night, could be tipoffs.

But today it could be just about anyone or anytime.

"I've seen men drive off without paying with their family sitting in the car," said Yash Dhir, who owns the Shell Station at Kirkman Road and International Drive in Orlando.

Gas-station owners across Central Florida have seen the number of driveoffs increase two to three times normal in recent weeks. Before prices shot up, gas theft was a once-a-week occurrence. Now it happens two or three times a week or more.

But the scofflaws are risking more than charges of petit theft. They could lose their drivers licenses.

Hamid Davoodian has seen $37 worth of gasoline drive away from his Texaco station at 3200 S. Conway Road in Orlando in the past week. The independent gas-station owner said the problem has become increasingly worse in the past month.

Although gas driveoffs are part of doing business, station owners are feeling a double whammy now, he said. The thefts are happening more often, and the amount of money lost is greater because gas is more expensive. By Friday, the price of regular unleaded was as high as $1.62 in some locations.

Dhir said he lost $150 to gas thieves in February, and March isn't looking much better. This week alone, he has lost $75.

"Even people with brand new cars and trucks are driving off," he said.

What's more, they're growing bolder. They make no effort to hide and will fill the tank instead of just swiping a couple of gallons.

Gilbert Galceran, who manages the University Mobile at 7501 University Boulevard, agreed.

"Some will stop in front of your window and wave at you as they drive off," he said.

Davoodian and Dhir say it's tough to prosecute gas thieves for a couple of reasons. It's sometimes difficult to get a good description and tag number, and it's hard to get police to respond.

"I've chased people to the red light and told them I was going to report them, but they don't care," Dhir said. "The police don't come out. You just get a case number over the phone. We call them only when we get a tag number."

If more people knew about a new state law, maybe gas thefts would go down, he added.

Under the new law, which went into effect in January, people convicted of gas theft will have their license suspended for six months. Every subsequent conviction brings a one-year suspension. Some stations are putting stickers on pumps that warn people about the new law.

So far, no licenses have been suspended anywhere in the state, said Sandra Lambert, state drivers license bureau director

Joe La Puente, who is the Shell dealer representative for 32 stations in Orlando and Gainesville, said strong enforcement would make a difference.

"I guarantee you if police would get a few of those guys, it would stop a lot of this," he said.

But law-enforcement officials say the simple solution is to get people to pay for gas in advance.

"That's the easiest way to avoid that," Seminole County Chief Deputy Steve Harriett said. "Other businesses make people go through a checkout line."

Station owners are reluctant to do that. Why should their customers who are honest be made to pay in advance because of a few scofflaws, they ask.

In fact, Shell discourages its franchises from requiring customers to pay in advance, La Puente said. Still, some Shell station owners are reluctantly requiring people who use the farthest pumps to pre-pay, he said.

The problem of gas thefts isn't limited to Central Florida. The head of the Southern Gasoline Retailers and Automotive Services Association said gas thefts are up dramatically across the Southeast. In Georgia, where a gallon of gasoline is 10 to 15 cents cheaper than in Florida, gas thefts have gone from one a week to one a day in many locations, Franklin C. McKinney said.

More and more stations are requiring customers to pay up front, he said.

The jump in gas thefts is not a new phenomenon. The same thing happened the last time gas prices shot up -- during the 1991 Persian Gulf War. Davoodian and Dhir ran stations at the time. They disagree, however, about when it was worse.

Davoodian said it was worse in 1991 because people were worried about the war and the economy was not as good as today. Dhir said it's worse today because news of rising prices has made consumers hypersensitive.

http://orlandosentinel.com/automagic/news/2000-03-18/NWSGAS18031800.html

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), March 18, 2000