Hmmm, I think I'll get a cheap locking gas cap.

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As the price of gasoline continues to climb, thieves are stealing right out of your tank.

Gus Flores spent more than $50 to fill his tank with gas and spent just a bit more on a locking gas cap to keep it there.

Gus Flores says "people are getting desperate where they are starting to siphon out the gas from other vehicles now so you just never know."

Locking gas caps are flying off the hooks at the Pep Boys right next door.

Porter Jaushlin, Pep Boys store manager, says "they're really taking off. I would say we're selling ten times more than we were selling before."

Some locking caps are getting harder to find especially those for large SUVs and pickups with big gas tanks that make tempting targets for thieves.

The caps are simple enough to use.

Porter says "installing a locking gas cap is just like putting your regular one on, except for you got to use the key to unlock it."

Most work well enough to stop all but the most determined thief.

Porter says "the common thief will leave that locking gas cap alone because when you rip off the top of it the insert is in there and it is almost impossible to get it out."

H.B. Williams bought one for his granddaughter.

H.B. Williams says "I probably need one put on my car too, but they are out of it, so next time I will get one for it."

The leading manufacturer reports sales across the country have more than tripled over the past few months shooting up right along with the price of gas.

Yes, this has been happening in many places.

Apparently a common tactic lately has been to actually drill a hole into the gas tank because some little device inside the tank which is meant to cut off flow of fuel in the event of an accident also prevents gas from being siphoned. This technique is more often used on SUVs because there is more room between the ground and the tank, and because they hold more gas.

One of the women in my office had this happen in a municipal lot in Hackensack. The response from the PD there was "yes, we've had a few reports of this."

So much for gas locks. Thankfully, by the late 90's Chrysler was so sure we'd have cheap gas forever that my 01 Caravan has no lock on the gas door for today's gas thieves to break.

Where did this happen?

Gas was stolen from 3 parked cars in our neighborhood overnight.
It appeared the ass-wipes damaged the cars to gain access.
With the price of gas slowly going up, I can only guess that gas theft will only increase.