Eau Claire (WQOW) - It's no secret that right now the cost to fill up your gas tank can quickly empty out your wallet. Here in Eau Claire, prices are sitting at $3.94 a gallon.
To cover the cost some are getting desperate.... Filling up, and driving off!
Police say in the just the past year, the number of gas theft arrests, in Eau Claire, have more than doubled.
Police say the number of arrests are on the rise, in part, because of a partnership police have with local gas stations.
The Eau Claire Police Department tells WQOW News 18 that from January to August of last year, there were 11 arrests made. This year, in that same time frame, there have been 28.
Police say they have always made arrests on this type of theft. But it's through the process of fine tuning partnerships with local gas stations, that they have been able to catch more people recently. Police encourage the stations to train their employees on how to be good witnesses and keep technology, like surveillance cameras, up to date. These are a few things that help police to build a solid case.
Eau Claire Police Department Community Relations Officer, Kyle Roder, says, "We'd like the public to know that any amount of theft, whether it is stealing a candy bar at a store or gas at a gas station, it is theft, it is against the law. The stores are trained to watch for your behaviors and what you are doing. It's not to scare people, but, people that go to gas stations thinking that they are going to drive away with some free gas, that's not the case."
Police want you to remember; you are being watched. Most, if not all of the pumps, have security cameras.
Now, depending on the case, there are a number of different penalties for stealing gas
The maximum penalty a person can receive is 9 months in jail or a $10,000 fine.
Police tell WOQW News 18, many times an arrest will happen when they can prove there was intent. Often times, that means someone who has repeatedly stolen gas.
For example, police mentioned one women who has been charged thirteen times in the city of Eau Claire for gas related thefts.
