Gasoline theft on rise along with prices

NEW YORK: US motorists, angered by soaring gasoline prices, are resorting increasingly to theft - a trend that could worsen heading into summer driving season, a national association of fuel retailers said yesterday.

"It is getting bad. When the price of gasoline goes up, the number of drive-offs goes up," said Dan Gilligan, president of the Petroleum Marketers Association of America, which represents about 8,000 retailers.

Drive-off means a motorist pulls up at a gas station's pump, fills the car's tank, and then speeds off without paying for the fuel.