Springs Thief Risks Explosion To Steal Some Gas

You can file this one under “stupid criminals.” On Friday night, a thief risked causing an explosion to steal some gas from an SUV.

Charles Drummond thought he had damaged his fuel tank on the road when he saw gasoline leaking down his driveway near Palmer Park and Powers boulevards Saturday morning.

He towed the suburban to a repair shop, and was stunned when mechanics told him someone had drilled a hole in his tank.

“This person must’ve been very small and very desperate to actually crawl under a car and drill it,” said Drummond. “I’m amazed. I thought I’d seen everything, but I guess you never do.”

He said his tank was half full, so the thief took a huge risk for about $50 worth of gas.

“You’re kind of drilling into a bomb here,” said Harry Volkmann, owner of Harry’s H.P. Tire and Auto. “If you have a drill operating and there’s any spark, as soon as that gas comes out and hits those sparks, you got yourself a potential fire. Once the fire is underneath the vehicle, you have a potential bomb.”

Volkmann said even though Drummond’s tank was plastic, not the metal kind, a spark from the drill was still possible. He said it’s tough to protect your vehicle from this kind of thing. His best advice is putting the car in a garage or keeping lights on the driveway at night.

Drummond keeps lights on outside his home, but that still didn’t stop the gas thief. He has to get his fuel tank replaced, which, even with insurance, will set him back a few hundred bucks. Volkmann said the replacement will cost $700 to $1,000.

A Colorado Springs Police spokesperson said she wasn’t aware of any similar incidents, at least not recently. Several mechanics said they have seen this in the past, especially when gas prices were at their highest.