Some have reported that gas has recently been stolen right out of their gas tanks.

We are all feeling the pain when it comes to putting gas in our vehicles with gas prices exceeding the ridiculous, but imagine filling up your car, or in one case tractor, only to have a thief steal the gas right out of your tank.

A friend of mine who has family that lives in the Catskills was telling me over the weekend that just last week they had the gas stolen out of three of their tractors. She told me that they park the older tractors on the side of their house when they aren't in use, and have done the same for many years and never had anything like this happen to them.

Here's what happened in this gas siphoning saga

She told me that her friend's husband filled up the gas tanks on his tractors before last week's snowstorm and parked them alongside their family home as always. When he went back to use them to remove snow over the weekend, the tractor's gas tanks were bone dry. She said he thought that the tractor he was trying to start might have something wrong with it so he went to the next one and did the same thing.

"It would start but wouldn't stay running," he said.

That's when he looked inside the gas tank and saw it was empty. Knowing he just filled it up, he looked for a leak or a gas stain in the snow but there wasn't anything. She told me he isn't sure who would do something like this but did want to warn people that "siphoning gas is now another thing we need to worry about."

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Siphoning Gas is NOT Something to Ever Try

Back when I was younger and we needed gas for the quads or the snowmobiles and didn't have any $$ for it, at one time or another I might have taken out a hose and tried to siphon gas from my dad's car. I only tried one time because I learned very quickly not to do it again. I wound up swallowing a bit and when I say it burned like nothing else, that's an understatement. It's extremely dangerous to even try, so my advice is never to try it.

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Can Someone Steal my Gas?

Most cars on the road today have anti-theft devices on them. Plus a lot of cars are equipped with a button inside the car or truck to even open the gas tank, so siphoning like I did when I was younger is not common. But just like most things, thieves have adapted to the times, and siphoning gas no longer involves any hoses or the threat of swallowing any gas.

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Gas Thieves Have Bypassed the Hose for a Drill in Wallkill

Just last week, the town of Wallkill announced that they have had their first case of gas siphoning in decades. According to News 12, Wallkill officials reported that the gas thieves used a cordless drill to get gas out of tanks from underneath them.

Authorities say the best way to avoid having gas stolen from your car or truck is to make sure you lock the vehicle anytime your not using it and activate any alarms you might have on the vehicle.

As for anyone with farm equipment, lawnmowers, ATVs, or smaller motorized vehicles, authorities say if possible to keep them inside a lockable structure or to put a locking gas cap on the gas tank. If you've had gas stolen from you you should report the theft to your local police department.

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