Thieves Siphoning Gas From Cars In Tulsa Neighborhood

People living in Tulsa's Owen Park neighborhood are keeping a closer eye on their vehicles after someone siphoned gas from their tanks.

It's happened several times in the past couple of months.

Tulsa Police tell me it's something a lot of people don't report it, because most of the time you don't even notice.

Justin Yarnell definitely noticed when thieves stole gas from his truck though. He runs a family lawn service business, and it happened to one of the trucks they use. He says he woke up Monday morning, went outside, and saw something sticking out of his gas tank.

"Found a water hose hanging out of my gas tank and a glove stuffed in the tank, and noticed I was out of gas," Yarnell said.

Yarnell says it's not the first time it's happened. He tells me this is the fourth time in two months someone has siphoned out his gas.

"The first couple of times I didn't notice. They didn't leave a hose hanging out. I got in the truck and started driving down the road and realize shoot, I'm out of gas - I just filled up," Yarnell said.

He says one of his neighbors even caught someone stealing gas out of her car that was parked in her driveway.

Tulsa Police says they don't often get reports about it because drivers just don't keep that close of an eye on their gas gauge.

"Because again, it's hard to, unless you catch somebody in the act - or in this situation you have the evidence left inside the vehicle - you don't even know that someone has done that to you," TPD Office Jeanne Pierce said.

Even then, police say it's only larceny, or a property crime, which are misdemeanors.

"It's not something that would carry any heavy sentence, and if we caught someone in the act and were able to apprehend them, they would get a ticket," Pierce said.

"I mean this is happening a lot. We love Owen Park. It's a beautiful place to live. Neighbors are great - real sense of community - but it seems like this is happening a lot," Yarnell said.

He said he's planning to buy locking gas caps to stop it from happening again.