Gas-and-dashes are something gas attendant Tristan Turcott knows well.
In the three years he's worked at an Esso station in Halifax, he's seen motorists pull all kinds of things, just to get out of paying for gas.
"Some will come to the cash, pay for a pack of gum then jump in their car and take off," he said. "Or they come in and when we ask them if they have gas, they lie and just leave."
Then there are the motorists who slowly fill up their gas tank, calmly get in their car and then at the last moment, hightail it out of the station when the gas attendants turn away.
It's something his gas station deals with at least three times a week.
And with prices rising as high as $1.34 per litre in some parts of the country, Turcott -- along with gas attendants across the country -- is braced for the number of gas thefts to also spike.
"Gas retailers have potentially lost thousands of dollars each year to gas theft," said Graham Conrad, the executive director for the Retail Gasoline Dealers Association of Nova Scotia. "There's no question in my mind as the price of gasoline continues to climb, the impact gas theft will have on retailers will continue to grow."
Most of the thefts happen at large gas stations where the staff are usually busier, and the thieves can be anyone from a local to a tourist stopping in for the first time, Conrad said.
Generally, Canadian police forces agree that gas theft is growing across the country, but admit that it's difficult to track because some stations do not report the crimes and some forces do not keep statistics on gas and dashes.
Instead, these thefts usually get lumped under the general category of theft under $5,000.
But the police forces that do keep statistics say as the price of gasoline rises, it will become even more attractive to thieves.
Since January, 212 gas thefts have been reported at Calgary gas stations. This time last year, there were only 139.
"Rising gas prices can motivate or force people to do these kind of thefts," said Calgary police spokesman Kevin Brookwell. "People who have never done this before will be driven by desperation because it is getting very expensive to drive a car."
Catching up with gas thieves is not easy.
"It's difficult. Unless there is something that we can follow up on, like license plates or surveillance images, it's hard to catch these people," Brookwell said. "It's seemingly an easy crime to commit, but people have to remember that the consequences can be a criminal record, fines or even jail time. It shouldn't be something that is taken lightly."
In Winnipeg, police report that as many as 2,010 gas thefts have occurred since 2007.
But Canadian police forces aren't just worried about the rise in gas and dashes. They're also predicting that instances of siphoning -- hosing gasoline from a parked vehicle -- will also continue to grow.
Earlier this week, thieves siphoned 3,000 litres of gasoline from two farmers in southern Alberta, prompting officials in the town of Milk River, 270 kilometres southeast of Calgary, to issue a warning to motorists and farmers to lock up their gas tanks.
John Pua, a sales attendant at Napa Auto Parts in Toronto, said he's seeing more motorists come in looking for locking gas caps.
"We sell them regularly," he said. "A lot of people are turning to them because of the high risk of siphoning gas. It also depends on what kind of neighbourhood they live in. If they hear a story about it happening, then they'll turn to these caps."
Tony Macerollo, the vice-president of the Canadian Petroleum Products Institute, an organization that represents 13,000 gas stations across the country, said the gas-theft problem likely won't get better soon.
"We have to remember that the more precious the commodity, the more tempting it will be for it for criminals to take it into their own hands," Macerollo said.
-- Canwest News Service
