FUEL THIEVERY: GASSING, DASHING A PROBLEM

Jeff Maurer hopes surveillance cameras and date and time stamps at cash registers in the Rhodes 101 Stores help curb a growing problem of motorists driving off without paying for gasoline.

Maurer, director of internal operations for the company, said losses "have been escalating in terms of dollars lost." One area Rhodes store reported $2,000 worth of gasoline thefts within the first three months of this year.

With prices at the pump soaring, convenience stores and service stations across the nation are seeing more motorists gassing and dashing.

Chris Shrum estimates his company loses about $40 per week when customers pump gasoline and drive off without paying. Shrum manages Amoco D-Mart and Citgo D-Mart convenience stores near Interstate 55 and Route K in Cape Girardeau.

"I've noticed it more at the Amoco location," Shrum said. "Drive-offs are a constant problem -- they'll always be there -- but now you can see the intention."

Gas prices have climbed to well over $2 in some Midwest cities and are at record levels in other parts of the country.

Prices in Missouri average $1.56 in Cape Girardeau; $1.68 in the St. Louis metro area and $1.78 in the Kansas City metro area. All are per-gallon prices for regular-grade gasoline.

Drivers are angry about the rising prices of gasoline. "They may not blame the gas store owner or retailer, but they take it out on them because they can't take it out on OPEC or others who have been brought into the conversation about high prices," said Jeff Lenard, a spokesman for the National Association of Convenience Stores in Alexandria, Va.

Lenard said drive-offs generally cost retailers $2,000 or more per year. "We expect that will significantly increase this year."

Maurer already has seen an increase. "With the price of fuel going up, when they do drive off it's a bigger dollar amount," he said.

The company installed surveillance cameras on its pumps and has begun using date and time stamps at the register to identify customers who steal gas more accurately.

Store managers spend about 15 minutes each day going through drive-off slips and matching the date and time stamp with the video surveillance to get vehicle license plate numbers and descriptions of drivers. That information is forward to the police.

With just $15 or $20 thefts, it's often difficult for the company to prosecute, Maurer said. "The police are just burdened."

The problems with drive-offs aren't concentrated in just one area of the country. Thefts are especially high at stations along interstates or in big cities, where people may be more confident that they will get away with blending into the crowd, Lenard said.

Shrum, whose two stations are close to the interstate, said most of his drive-offs occur between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. Most involve smaller amounts of gasoline: $5 or $15.

"They get just enough to go," Shrum said. Sometimes motorists will fill an entire tank and then drive off, but the longer a person stays at the station the easier it will be to catch them, he said.

Maurer said there are some accidental drive-offs involving customers who think their credit card was accepted for payment when the transaction didn't register. When Rhodes stores installed pay-at-the-pump options in new locations, there were more drive-offs simply because people hadn't completed their credit card transactions, Maurer said.

Sometimes customers get distracted and forget to go inside to pay, but other times people will walk inside, see a line of customers and never pay.

The problem got to be "more than just a few accidents" at stores throughout the area, he said.

Video surveillance cameras often are installed as preventative measures for service stations with drive-off problems. Legal options for the gas stations are few.

Most states that allow self-service at the pump make a drive-off a misdemeanor crime. Others are taking the crime more seriously. Beginning July 1, Kansas drivers who repeatedly gas and dash could lose their licenses. Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina, West Virginia and Tennessee have similar penalties.

A Missouri law that takes effect Aug. 28 will suspend a motorists driver's license for six months upon conviction for driving off without paying for gas. A second offense will suspend the license for a year and require the motorist to pay a $25 fine to have the license reinstated.

If customers stay longer at the pumps, it easier to make out license plates or identifications, Shrum said. In cases where you can identify a drive-off motorist, you can prosecute, Shrum said. "But generally it's easier just to get your money back."

Gene Shultz of Quantum Services, a Columbus, Ohio, company, suggests that gas station employees greet customers on an intercom as they pull up and move displays that block a cashier's view of the pumps.

Shrum tells his cashiers to stay particularly alert to "who's at the pump and keep an eye on what they're doing."

Employees at Don's Store 24 watch the pumps constantly to make sure there aren't any problems. One person watches the pumps and if there are problems relays a description to another employee who phones police, said Rob Jackson, assistant store manager.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.