As the cost to fill ‘er up keeps going up, locking fuel caps are flying off the shelves of Long Island auto parts stores. Some buyers have been victims of stolen gas, but most are doing it as a preventive measure because gas prices are so high, store managers and workers said.
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An Indiana company that makes about 1 million locking gas caps annually said its sales have almost quadrupled in the past month. A cap typically sells for $15 to $25.
Police in Nassau and Suffolk said no statistics are available to confirm or rebut whether gasoline thefts are on the rise here. “It could be happening,” said Suffolk police Sgt. John Kosciuk of the Sixth Precinct in Selden. “People might not even be aware of it. As far as I can see, there’s no actual crime patterns developing regarding that.”
Because “there’s a dearth of statistics on stealing gas,” it is impossible to know whether it’s happening, said Robert Sinclair, a spokesman for the AAA automobile club of New York. “But people are taking the precautions, because they’re trying to protect themselves from losing what has become a more and more valuable commodity.”
The owners of older vehicles have the most reason to worry because they’re more vulnerable to having gas siphoned
The only way to get the gas out is to puncture it … siphoning is blocked by almost all vehicles through anti-siphon filler pipe. Lavdafka is a locking cap a good idea.
caps can be very easily picked . its all a fraud
My understanding is that the built in siphon break works only when filling your tank. However, if you shove a hose down the tank to siphon gas out of the tank you will be able to.