An unidentified gas thief was caught by a home surveillance camera stealing fuel from a resident’s 2019 Jeep Cherokee. Joe Zlomek covered the unusual crime in The Sanatoga Post.

The footage, currently being examined by officers at the Troop K Barracks of the Pennsylvania State Police, shows the driver arriving at the property on West Main Street. He pulls his suspected Honda CR-V adjacent to the Jeep belonging to the resident.

Troopers say he next “… proceeded to drill a hole in the [plastic] gas tank of the Cherokee, then collected the gasoline.”

After about a half hour of draining fuel, he reentered his car and fled west on Main Street.

Whoever he is, if he’s caught, he faces criminal mischief charges.

Nationwide, the rise in gas prices has led to a rash of drivers stealing gas, according to NBC News.

Most of those occur at pumps, either by manipulating the computers that track the transactions or installing homemade devices that drop the price per gallon.

Parking in a locked garage is one way to thwart this kind of crime.

More on Trappe’s gas thief is at The Sanatoga Post.

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This CNN report covers the same theft tactic used in Trappe: drilling a hole in a fuel tank.