Fuel thieves drill into vehicle tanks to steal gasoline in Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) - This Easter weekend will be busy for travel, but gas thieves may be busy too. They have been stealing gasoline by drilling into vehicle tanks and letting fuel drain out into their containers.

For people who haven’t heard, this is happening it has been surprising when cars suddenly stopped working.

“I’m angry, I’m frustrated… I’m sad,” said Delrene Kennedy.

Kennedy’s car was in the parking lot next to Discount Tire in Henderson when the gas was stolen. The asphalt is still stained where gasoline spilt and drained.

“I think this is happening because we have a lot of folks out here that are desperate,” Kennedy said.

While her son was at work, someone drilled a hole in the bottom of the gas tank of her car to drain out the gas.

“My son was driving home and got stuck at a major intersection at Lake Mead Parkway... He called us. We had it towed here for repair and they examined it thoroughly. After four days, they called us and said there was a hole burred into our fuel tank.

It happened to Jacob too. His lifted truck had the gas drained out of it right in front of his Henderson home.

“I thought people would just try to syphon the old fashion way with a hose. I didn’t think people would drill into your gas tank,” Jacob said.

It also happened to Melissa Kelly at her apartment complex.

Her parking spot was also covered in gasoline, as thieves drilled a hole in her gas tank. It cost her more than $1,000 to fix.

For Kennedy, the repair bill is $4,000, extra money she doesn’t have.

“The other day, I hate to even say this out loud, but I thought twice before I bought gas, and thought should I get groceries instead and I think a lot of Americans are making those choices,” Kennedy said.

It will take until end of May for a new gas tank to reach the repair shop because of supply chain issues.

FOX5 reached out to the Henderson Police Department to ask how many times this type of crime has happened over the last few months. They did not get back to us as of this report.

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