Rising prices drive pump-and-runners

www.usatoday.com Posted 3/3/2003 11:16 PM By Barbara Hagenbaugh, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — As gasoline prices soar, service station owners say they are seeing an increase in the number of drivers who are skipping out on the bill.

Last week, a Shell gas station clerk in New Port Richey, Fla., was injured after he grabbed onto a car door to stop a motorist who was running out on a $16 bill. Karam Zaki, 34, was dragged 450 feet while being kicked by the driver before swinging off the car. The driver has not been caught. (Related story: Gas goes above $2 a gallon in Calif.)

Case Marshall, owner of 16 Pit Stop Convenience Stores in upstate New York, says he has seen a rise in "drive offs," but the increase has been nowhere near as steep as it was in 2001, when gas prices were also elevated. That's perhaps in part because of steps he's taken to thwart thieves, including requiring cashiers to turn on the pump every time a new driver shows up. Recent numbers are not available, but pump-and-runs cost owners more than $1,000 per station in 2001, according to the National Association of Convenience Stores — costing the industry more than $100 million.

Station owners say they always see an increase in gas theft when prices are high. While some drivers may be squeezed so tight they can't afford the higher gas costs, owners say others, thinking gas sellers are jacking up prices unfairly, may be taking it out on them. Some elected officials and AAA have questioned if there is price gouging going on, a claim station owners angrily reject.

"Everybody wants to blame us," says Bill Douglass, who owns 10 Lone Star convenience stores in Texas.

"There's a perception out there that when the price of gasoline goes up, we're just making that much more money," says Jim Tudor, president of the Georgia Association of Convenience Stores. "That's nowhere near the truth."

Retailers say they have not raised prices as quickly as their gas costs have increased. Prices have gained over the past several months as the cost of crude oil, which accounts for half of the cost of gasoline, has skyrocketed because of worries about a war with Iraq, a strike in oil-producer Venezuela and low supplies. Station owners say after paying for gas, taxes, staff and other costs, they are hardly making money.

To deter theft, some station owners require customers to pay before pumping, and others have installed security cameras. Some states and localities have enacted laws in recent years to increase fines for driving away without paying or allow law enforcement officials to take away drivers' licenses.