ATLANTA (CBS46) – Some Kirkwood homeowners have driven empty cars, but not because they forgot to refill their gas tanks. Instead, they found their tanks emptied by someone else.
“I got in the car, started it, and realized it was out of gas. And I thought to myself, I think I filled up with gas before I left, but maybe not,” said Nick Trujillo. So I stopped at the gas station, started filling up with gas, and gasoline started spewing all over the place. Get under the car and look at it and there’s a hole in the bottom of the fuel tank, and I don’t know how that happened.”
Luckily, Trujillo was close to his home in Kirkwood and had enough gas to get home. He looked at where he had parked the truck and found drill bits and gas stains.
“Obviously it was a hole drilled in the tank.”
Curious, he said he posted about the incident and found other victims with gas.
“My wife was driving away and there were some strange noises coming from the engine. Long story short, it turns out someone drilled a hole in the bottom of the tank,” said Christopher Wyczalkowski.
#Atlanta Neighbors in Kirkwood are warning others of a gas thief in the area. Some people find their gas leaking out of their cars with holes drilled into the tank. Detail @ CBS46 #crime pic.twitter.com/SYBvi7fxwJ
– Jamie S Kennedy (@Jamie_S_Kennedy) February 18, 2022
Wyczalkowski’s gas theft happened a few weeks ago and was just a 3-minute drive from where Trujillo’s truck was parked.
“It is very uncomfortable. It’s like a crime against your property and your people, and we have kids. “
Another neighbor, just minutes away, said she was also a victim when her car ran out of gas on the highway. And after towing her car, AAA told her a bore had drained her gas tank.
The high price of gas has been a hot topic and means all three cost more than just a trip to the gas station.
“I understand pumping 19 gallons in a car hurts, it’s like $60 or whatever. But I feel like drilling holes in people’s tanks isn’t the best way to get gas,” Trujillo said.
He plans to permanently park his car in his driveway in hopes of preventing that from happening again.
“I don’t know what else to do, how to really stop it.”
