Pattern of gas siphoning and gas tank drilling plagues local business owner

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - One Colorado Springs business owner says he's had the gas tanks on his U-Haul trucks drilled or damaged around four or five times.

Ben Clingingsmith, owner of Birkdale Resale says he added U-Haul truck rentals to his furniture resale business to drive more revenue and traffic.

"This makes me question, why is it worth it to do this for fuel. It is too cold to do this for a gallon of gas," Clingingsmith said.

He's caught numerous thieves on security camera footage stealing; one riding up on a bicycle before riding off with a Lowe's bucket which appears to be filled with gasoline.

Others were caught on the edges of his security cameras. Clingingsmith says they park behind the U-hauls, then crawl underneath the trucks to drill holes in the tank before letting it drain.

"One time they showed up with trash cans and pumps, and it was a very professional operation and they drilled the tank, pumped it into another tank outside of the truck, and then loaded up with multiple people. So it was an organized operation," Clingingsmith said.

He says he's filed numerous police reports with the Colorado Springs Police Department. Still, there isn't much investigators can do because they've never caught a license plate or any distinguishing features of vehicles to go after, Clinginsmith says.

"The evidence is there. We have them on camera every time. Usually, it's a vague description of a vehicle, the description of the person, and then the damage is always there with the drill tanks and the gas spilling all over the parking lot and all that sort of stuff," he said.

In the meantime, each time thieves steal five gallons of gas, they cause thousands of dollars of damage, leaving his trucks out of commission for at least a week.