Fuel theft spikes in Lincoln; holes drilled in 13 vehicles in one week
LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – Lincoln Police say at least one gas thief has been striking vehicles across the city.
On Tuesday, a 24-year-old man discovered that a hole was drilled through his vehicle’s gas tank near 24th and Holdrege streets. Officials think it happened sometime overnight.
Sgt. Chris Vollmer with the Lincoln Police Department said there’s been 13 such cases in the last six days. There was also one case on Sept. 12.
“Several of these have been people noticing, either going out to their vehicles and the strong odor of gasoline or going to the fuel pump and realizing it’s spilling out underneath as they’re putting fuel in,” he said.
Most of the vehicles were pickup trucks, according to LPD’s data, though there have been a couple SUVs and a van.
Vollmer said it seems to happen to vehicles big enough that a person could crawl underneath.
The vehicles were parked around town, but several cases happened in the Clinton neighborhood near 27th and O streets.
The vehicles were left either on the street or in parking lots of businesses and apartments.
The loss from the stolen gas has been less than $70 each time, but officials said the damage to the vehicles has amounted to over $5,000.
“It’s a lot more than just the gas that you’re out,” Vollmer said. “I don’t know what it costs to replace a fuel tank, but I’m assuming it’s not cheap.”
Witnesses have reported seeing someone underneath vehicles with gas cans nearby who ran off after being confronted.
LPD doesn’t have any suspects and doesn’t know whether more than one person is involved.
Anyone with information is asked to call police at 402-441-6000 or Crime Stoppers at 402-475-3600.
