the low lifes are stealing gas from me!

[Gewehr-Guy]

I'll bet they spent all their gas money on car insurance , and had to borrow your gas to get to church

[marlin39a]

I've got a small Browning I put out. Catches rabbits at night, so should have the capability to catch those guys.

[Minerat]

Get a picture of their face with a trail cam and
post it on your gate and fuel tank and around town like a wanted poster. Just say gas thief beware. Bet it stops, worked for us.

[Finster101]

Don't be surprised if it's someone you know.

[wgr]

most likely some of the 13% if in indie.

[oldred]

We live in a artificial world of play nice to wrong doers while they rob, rape and murder you and there is not much you can do about it.

The problem with booby traps is that they couldn't care less who they trap! An innocent person can get caught due to circumstances the owner of the trap could not foresee so there is much more to it than fairness. Obviously it would take a very strange set of circumstances to catch an innocent person stealing gas but something like that fence charger could easily get someone who was nowhere near the gas cap and had no intention of stealing anything, even a child could easily get caught in it. Ok so it's not likely a the charger could actually do any real harm but it has happened and someone startled by such a thing could get hurt from a secondary occurrence, every situation is different and ANYTHING can happen! But that's only part of it, the perp (deserving as he may be) is still protected by the law from vengeful retaliation for a wrongful act upon someone, that is to say we have no right to take the law into our own hands -protect ourselves yes but mete out punishment NO! On top of that most booby traps get the perp before he has even committed the crime!

[oldred]

Get a picture of their face with a trail cam and
post it on your gate and fuel tank and around town like a wanted poster. Just say gas thief beware. Bet it stops, worked for us.

You had better be able to prove the charge unless it has been to court and a conviction obtained, doing something like that could easily backfire BIG TIME and get you slapped with a defamation suit that could cost you a bundle even if you win (I know of a case where this actually happened!). You may have him red handed in your mind but no matter how incriminating or even irrefutable the evidence if he is not charged and convicted then legally he has done nothing and you have no right to accuse him publicly, you may have gotten away with it that time but doing that could be extremely risky.

Fellas the fact is that no matter how mad we get going after someone in any vengeful manner, physical or public humiliation, is not legal and for a good reason, we are a nation of laws and it's up to the courts to charge, convict and deal out punishment. The laws simply do not give us the right to take out vengeance on someone, we may have good reason to do so and the person may be well deserving of everything they get but until they are tried and convicted they are INNOCENT in the eyes of the law and subject to protection the same as anyone else! Short of self protection taking it upon ourselves to inflict pain or public humiliation on someone else that has not been charged and convicted is a serious matter and can result in serious consequences!

[MaryB]

5 gallon gas can in the truck filled with methanol... will overheat and seize their engine!

[smokeywolf]

Be careful about trying to protect yourself and your property. Anywhere near a major metropolitan area, courts are gaining a reputation of favoring crooks over honest folks.

[tomme boy]

Call down to the Police and ask to talk to the det. Ask if they have loaner cameras. They do here. They let you sign them out for just this type of use. And if not, do you know anyone that has a small sporting goods store? There are all kinds of them still around. Or any friends deer hunt? Someone you know has got to have one.

[Mr_Sheesh]

Oh that's a beautiful "Instant Karma" thing LOL - But here in the US I'd bet the perp would sue the motor home's owner for endangering their help and in some areas, might even win - This is a CRAZY country right now, things're BROKEN. Hoping we make it better.

[corbinace]

Fellas the fact is that no matter how mad we get going after someone in any vengeful manner, physical or public humiliation, is not legal and for a good reason, we are a nation of laws and it's up to the courts to charge, convict and deal out punishment. The laws simply do not give us the right to take out vengeance on someone, we may have good reason to do so and the person may be well deserving of everything they get but until they are tried and convicted they are INNOCENT in the eyes of the law and subject to protection the same as anyone else! Short of self protection taking it upon ourselves to inflict pain or public humiliation on someone else that has not been charged and convicted is a serious matter and can result in serious consequences!

I can't help but think of the current fiasco in the confirmation hearing arena. Kind of what you are talking about here. Not exactly but many parallels. Thanks for posting this viewpoint.

[Mr_Sheesh]

You know - The other thing is that a 5 gal can full of Diesel put in their car's gas tank will mess their catalytic converter up some, whole tank becomes unusable for much. And they'd leave a smoke trail and likely be pulled over for THAT.

Also; If you have video of the "perp" on your property, siphoning gas, you could post that on YouTube with a title like "Does anyone know who this is?" or "I wonder what this guy was up to on my property, siphoning gas from my vehicles?"; That's not accusing them of anything, but it'd warn your neighbors. Might do the job. May be best to ask a lawyer though (I'm not a lawyer. And you don't want to be sued if avoidable.)

It's pretty annoying, but imagine if traps WERE legal; Kid gets lost and blunders onto your property and gets killed by your booby trap? Or you have a house fire and a firefighter is hurt by it? That'd be totally unfair and WRONG. That's what can happen tho, so it's why they're illegal.

[fatelk]

Some years back a friend had some thieves steal anything brass and copper that they could carry from his farm in the middle of the night. The county cop told him he knew exactly who the thieves were and where they sold their loot. He went to the scrap yard and sure enough there was his stuff, and sure enough there was the name of one of the thieves' girlfriend on the receipt.

Nothing the police could do; his name wasn't on the parts, no way to prove anything. The cop was angry because he'd caught the guys before, red handed stealing, and all they got was a slap on the wrists. They had been caught again and again, and went right back to stealing with little or no consequence.

Now I don't believe in karma as such, but what goes around does come around, and as you sow, so shall you reap. A couple months later there was a story on the news of two guys in a stolen car, with a couple cans of stolen gas in the back. It seems they took a corner too fast and ended up upside down in a ditch. The car caught fire and they were trapped inside. Passersby tried to help but couldn't because of the flames, so they had to listen to them screaming in agony as they burned to death. You guessed it, the same two thieves.

[Mr_Sheesh]

I've seen that Karma happens. (There are other ways of naming that - God's wrath being one.) You just don't want to go there unless you plan to die...

I've heard of a meth-head in one state near here, who kept stealing everything that was nailed down AND everything that wasn't too, they knew exactly who he was but could never pin it on him...

He vanished at one point; No one really looked for him as he wasn't THAT popular.

Someone else drown in the local lake; Dredging for them, they found him - The story that was told was that "Somehow, he stole about 200 pounds of tire chains, and wrapped them around himself, then tried to swim across the local lake... And failed, sank, and drowned." Which story NO ONE bought, but the local Sheriff basically said "OK I'll let THIS one pass, but if it happens again someone's going to jail - forever."

That would get you very bad Karma, but I can understand (if not approve) someone doing it. A LOT of people don't like thieves. AT ALL.

[oldred]

Oh that's a beautiful "Instant Karma" thing LOL - But here in the US I'd bet the perp would sue the motor home's owner for endangering their help and in some areas, might even win - This is a CRAZY country right now, things're BROKEN. Hoping we make it better.

Well it's also an old joke and well known "urban legend", known as the "dreaded unleaded" story it has been around for many years,

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/dreaded-unleaded/

I even remember the commentator Paul Harvey telling that one as far back as the 70's or early 80's! Like most Urban legends it "may" have happened somewhere at some time but that old tale is a well worn old joke that has made the rounds for years in many versions.

[Mr_Sheesh]

Being an "urban legend" doesn't mean it's untrue; I am a character so I'll insist on enjoying it - no matter what

[Petrol & Powder]

The purpose of installing cameras is to identify or at least attempt to identify the thieves.

The police likely know the suspects or can use the images to identify the suspects. Once the identity of the suspects is established the next step is to prosecute them for the theft. The police may have reports of other thefts in the area and will want to clear those cases and make multiple arrests if possible. The images will not only assist in identifying the thieves, the images will be valuable evidence in court.
By obtaining images and providing those images to the police you are helping yourself and more important- you are helping your neighbors. It is a civic duty to combat crime and the police cannot do it alone.

The goal of obtaining images isn't to make Youtube videos or "wanted" posters to shame the perpetrators; the goal is to gather evidence to assist in arresting and prosecuting the thieves.

[Gray Fox]

Be happy they just took your gas. Thieves siphoned most of a tank of diesel in my nearly new Ford 7.3 Powerstroke diesel, then poured water back into the tank. Didn't know until I cranked it up--or tried to--as the gauge showed I had fuel. $2,500 later I got it back from the dealer. They did keep part of what they drained and I paid to have it analyzed--87% water! At least this way my insurance paid for the repair. Good old USAA. I'm a retired owner of a small PI company and I guess I must have really PO'd somebody who executed that little exercise. BTW, this is a formerly nice community suburban area with a population demographic that is completely reversed from what it was 20 years ago. Progress. GF

[oldred]

I guess I must have really PO'd somebody who executed that little exercise. GF

That's one problem with the "feel good" methods of getting back at the perp, it might work and that might be the last of it but then they just might get the last laugh and often do! If a person can't catch them in the act and resorts to revenge how can we expect to catch them in their retaliation for such revenge? It's usually not a good idea to play games with people like this because like it or not they will often win in the end, a local old time drive-in restaurant here found that out the hard way! These people who would steal gas usually are just kids or some local dope-head but one never knows for sure and a lot of those guys actually enjoy a good game of revenge, remember the old admonishment to never pick a fight (argument) with a hog, when it's over you will both be muddy but the hog loves it!