HIGH POINT, N.C. — A gas station owner is taking precautions after his business was targeted by thieves this week, stealing hundreds of gallons of fuel.
Hardik Patel owns the Bizzy Bee Grocery Store and Gas Station in High Point, North Carolina, and told CNN that 398 gallons of gas were taken after the business was closed.
Surveillance video showed someone come up to the pump and use a remote control-like device to bypass the payment system, and then cars began to show up and fill up their tanks, WXII reported. The driver appears to pump their own gas before directing more and more cars into the station.
“It lasted about 45 minutes until the police found out they were here. But between that time, there were maybe 15 cars probably. Filled the gas close to 400 gallons,” Patel told WGHP. The 400 gallons equate to approximately $1,600.
A customer suspected something was wrong and contacted the police.
“I’ve been in business for 15 years and owned other gas stations. I have never seen something like this,” Patel told CNN. “It wasn’t free, they were stealing.”
Patel told WXII he will now be turning the gas pumps off at night, saying that a few extra customers aren’t worth the potential risk of losing more gas.
Rising gas prices have prompted more crimes involving stolen fuel. Last week, a family-owned Texas gas station blamed thieves for stealing more than 1,000 gallons of fuel from underground storage tanks.
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