High Diesel Prices Yield Bumper Crop of Thieves

On moonlit nights when farms in the Central Valley grow quiet, the rustlers step out of the shadows, just as they did in the Old West.

But nowadays, their quarry isn't cattle. It's diesel fuel.

On a recent morning, almond grower Scott Hunter ventured into the predawn darkness to discover that rustlers had made off with 900 gallons of diesel worth more than $2,700. It was the fourth time in recent months that thieves had raided the tanks at Hunter's Merced County farm.

To keep the thieves out, Hunter had installed chain-link fences, razor wire and bunkerlike concrete structures around his fuel pumps. But they cut a hole through his fence, escaping with the diesel.

Diesel prices hovered around $3.25 a gallon last week, $1.11 more than at the same time last year, according to the U.S. Energy Department.

Authorities say these record fuel prices have resulted in brazen diesel rustling from trucks and tanks in many rural areas of the state -- especially unguarded farms in the Central Valley.

Other kinds of fuel thefts are increasing. Many people are rushing to buy locking gas caps after reports that motorists were siphoning gasoline from neighbors' cars.

Automotive chains such as Pep Boys and AutoZone report that motorists are shunning conventional, screw-on gas caps that cost about $7 for caps that require a key and cost twice as much. The safety cap harks to the 1970s, when gas shortages made the device a fixture on many cars.

"There has been a discernibly higher shift in sales, and it's nationwide," said Bill Furtkevic, an assistant vice president at Pep Boys.

At gas stations in other parts of the country, where it is common for motorists to pump first and pay after, the number of customers who drive off without paying is soaring too, according to a recent report by the National Assn. of Convenience Stores. Some gas stations near freeways are reporting monthly losses of as much as $1,500, the report said.

"There has been an incredible increase in the number of retailers who are throwing up their hands and saying, 'That's it, we are going to require prepay until we can figure out another way,' " said Jeff Lenard, a spokesman for the trade association.

Authorities say the gasoline thieves include amateurs, who risk hefty fines and the suspension of their driver's licenses for fleeing after filling their tanks. Others belong to sophisticated rings that operate tanker trucks and pump fuel directly out of underground storage tanks at gas stations, according to a spokesman for the Miami-Dade County Police Department, which said it had busted a ring involving about 55 suspects.