Gas thefts costs Michigan stations in excess of $10 million per year, with the average gas station losing about $2,000 per year, said Mark Griffin, president of the Michigan Petroleum Association.
Jamal Ebrahimpour, owner of two Lansing-area gas stations, said the number of gas thefts has increased with the price of gas.
Ebrahimpour, who has owned the Citgo at 3612 S. Martin Luther King Blvd. in Lansing for the past four years, said he experiences up to two drive-offs at his East Lansing Citgo, 1301 E. Grand River Ave., every two weeks on average. This is an increase from the one drive-away he said he used to have about every three months at the Lansing location.
“The price of gas is high,” he said. “When (people) don’t make any money and they don’t (have) anything in (their) pockets, they try to drive off.”
The average price of regular unleaded gas in the Lansing area Sunday was $4.14 per gallon, a 24.3 percent increase from last year, according to LansingGasPrices.com.
There were 123 people convicted of gas larceny in 2007 in Michigan, up from the 101 convictions in 2006 and the 86 in 2005, according to the Secretary of State office.
“The higher the price of gas goes, the more some people want to steal,” Griffin said. “With $4-a-gallon gasoline, most of (the gas stations) are experiencing at least one drive-off a week.”
Since the price of gas is about three times the cost of five years ago, stations are taking a greater hit every time someone drives away without paying, he said.
“We’ve never had a big problem with drive-offs,” said Betty Mendenhall, an employee for BP, 2131 W. Grand River Ave. in Okemos. “When we do have them, they’re for over $50.”
For Greg Ondrus, an MSU economics senior, the price of gas was one of the reasons he sold his car. He said he doesn’t look down on everyone who steals gas because gas prices are increased to make a profit.
“It depends on their situation,” he said. “I don’t think it’s actually right to drive off … you push people far enough and sooner or later they’re going to make the decision to give or take the law.”
But Griffin said it’s not the individual gas retailers that are profiting because competition drives prices down.
“As a matter of fact, today they’re losing 2 cents a gallon,” he said.
Griffin said he would like to see legislation passed to mandate all gas consumers to pay before filling their vehicles.
“With legislation, we could eliminate an entire type of crime,” he said. “There’s no excuse for being a crook.”
Drive-offs have led the Okemos BP to implement a pre-pay system, said Mendenhall.
Ebrahimpour also made all his Lansing station’s pumps pre-pay.
“If somebody drives off (with) $80, that means that day we worked for nothing,” he said.
Support student media! Please consider donating to The State News and help fund the future of journalism.
