Petrol drive-offs occur now and then at service stations around the country, but one local criminal has taken such thieving a step further.
Almost $300 worth of petrol was stolen from the Z station in Papamoa yesterday morning by a man who brought along extra containers specifically for the job.
A witness contacted SunLive after watching the brazen theft unfold just after 11am.
'When I filled my car up was a guy next to me filling up three large petrol containers in his boot. He also filled his car. At one point the service station assistant asked if he was okay and he told her to ‘f**k off'.
'When I went inside to pay he drove off with $271 worth of petrol without paying.”
She says the shop assistants managed to get a number plate off the front of the vehicle, but there was no plate on the back.
Police confirm they attended the incident.
'A report was taken, and enquiries are ongoing,” says a police spokesperson.
The offender is described as a 172cm tall male, medium to large build, wearing a black hoodie.
Although police did not have a description of the man's ethnicity in their report, the witness says he appeared to be Maori.
"It was rather hard to see any facial features as he had his hoodie on and sunglasses."
The theft is just another in a string of crimes that have rocked Tauranga this week, including the armed robbery of a United Video store, and the attempted robbery of Quality Food and Spices on Cameron Road.
24 comments
They'll get him!
Posted on 07-05-2017 12:41 | By Papamoaner
He's probably already known to police. Hoodies ought to be outlawed. Only losers seem to wear them anyway - badge of a loser! They are banned in banks, so why not petrol stations?
hoodies....
Posted on 07-05-2017 13:04 | By Cliff_tga
"hoodies should be banned" are you serious? whats next... why not ban cars? or petrol containers? dunno which banks you go to, I wear my hoodie to the bank all the time, not once have I been told to leave, or to remove it.
Sounds like it is time for.....
Posted on 07-05-2017 13:53 | By GreertonBoy
Hydraulic bollards at the bowser? Sorry, but if I worked at a service station and saw someone wearing a hoodie and sunglasses filling up containers and a car, I would be calling the police before he finished filling.... and if I were also buying fuel I would be telling the shop person to keep an eye on the suspicious person. I think as well as CCTV, anything suspicious like that, I would be out there with my own camera and take a bunch of photos of the car, numberplates, the suspicious person and anyone in the car after calling the police... and make it very obvious I was taking their pictures.
Hoodies
Posted on 07-05-2017 15:02 | By Papamoaner
@Clifftga - well you might be the exception mate, but to most it's the badge of a loser. @Greerton boy. Spot on mate. You have reflected the opinions of the majority of "normal" people.
Hoodies pt 2
Posted on 07-05-2017 15:25 | By Snup1
Hoodies should be banned - seriously. I'm a 50something yr old & I wear them, & I am certainly not a loser. I also fill up a container at the petrol station - in fact my lawns, & my infirmed neighbours, won't get mowed unless I take my container to the petrol station. Most likely I will be wearing a hoodie, if it is a sunny day, then sunnies.
Here's an idea
Posted on 07-05-2017 15:32 | By Primed
PRE-PAID PUMPS!!!!
And then what
Posted on 07-05-2017 16:44 | By Kaimai
And when the offender is caught what will the learned Judge say "Don't do it again, 50 hours community service and reparation at $5 week / month" and therein lies the problem.
pay at pump??
Posted on 07-05-2017 16:56 | By chris price
That would stop them. I love it. Some Mobil stations and others are prepay So trot in join the queue then guestumate how much fuel you need. No way>>Pay at pump or pay inside, or go somewhere else
They
Posted on 07-05-2017 17:36 | By Capt_Kaveman
rip us off with fuel prices but when someone does it to them the cry a river, what is $275 out of $800B is what 0.00000034% Z get a life right it off
Driver
Posted on 07-05-2017 17:42 | By Pcsparks
Totally agree Hoodies should be banned If you have to hide your face then what do you have to hide Hoodie wearers get a lifeIt's the same as the ignorant males that wear a hat at the table There's a culture out there that seem to have no respect for a decent society any more
Banks & Hoodies
Posted on 07-05-2017 18:38 | By Pensioner
Well it seems that you can't read then Cliff_tga.At the Banks that I go to - it says No Hoodies, Helmets, Sunglasses.Not all hoodie wearers are losers but, some wearers, certainly can make themselves look suspicious simply by the way they wear them with caps and glasses on as well.
Good one…
Posted on 07-05-2017 23:21 | By namxa
Ban hoodies. What? So, ok, ban a particular article of clothing, and fuel thefts will stop. Really? Oh, and sunglasses too. Ban those. Maybe if you ban enough clothing people will start bringing fuel TO the servoTake ya blinkers off and also perhaps look a bit deeper. If you dare.
Eminem?
Posted on 08-05-2017 06:19 | By maildrop
Maybe he was here taking some of what he's owed after the NZ Government stole from him. I suppose we shouldn't be that surprised by all these thefts and robberies when the powers that be don't understand the concept of property ownership. Says it all. There does seem to be a culture of taking things if it's not nailed down or in use.
Snups...
Posted on 08-05-2017 08:32 | By GreertonBoy
There is a big difference between a guy at a service station filling his car and a jerry can or lawnmower can.... boat, motorcycle on the back of a ute whilst wearing a hoodie..... and someone with a numberplate missing, wearing a hoodie, wearing sunglasses, filling several/many jerry cans, acting weird/rude to staff.... all add to the suspicion. These people it would be handy to take pictures of, so police can recognise a common car by dents/bumper stickers/wheels and any other distinguishable features of a vehicle to assist the Police and be a clearer set of images than a CCTV system would produce. The possible thief would likely stop what they are doing if they KNOW that there ARE real good pictures of them, as we all know, cowardly thieves rely on anonymity. Someone not intending to steal wouldn't worry, they are on CCTV anyway.
@ Capt_Kaveman
Posted on 08-05-2017 10:57 | By Linaire
What!?! .. are you advocating theft?!? I don't care if its $275, or $5 or $5,000 ... it is still THEFT!! If everyone thought like you do, we would all be ripping people off left, right and centre! What a ludicrous suggestion!
Hoodies
Posted on 08-05-2017 12:12 | By Papamoaner
The reason hoods should be outlawed is not because it's an article of clothing, but because it's a DISGUISE. Wearing a disguise was an offence under the old police offences act, but I'm unsure about the Crimes act that replaced it. It's bound to be in there somewhere. Either way, hoods minimise recognition, so will always arouse suspicion - "badge of a loser" That's why they are outlawed in banks, despite what that other hoodie claimed earlier.
here we go again
Posted on 08-05-2017 20:50 | By old trucker
Agree with By Capt Kaveman, you are right, they do make millions, Fuel in America is $2.00 a gallon.THOUGHTS ONLY,Sunlive Thankyou 10-4 out.
@Oldtrucker
Posted on 10-05-2017 09:48 | By Papamoaner
You might be right about that. I wouldn't know. But it's got bugger all to do with criminal theft.
so mr Papamoaner
Posted on 10-05-2017 13:38 | By Mein Fuhrer
what if the person was wearing a dress and had a long flowing hair or dreadlocks covering the sides of their faces, or wearing overalls and a big floppy hat, should we call for the banning of these items as well. I often wear a hoodie, doesn't seem to make me want to go and steal stuff though.
@Mein Fuhrer
Posted on 10-05-2017 16:04 | By Papamoaner
I think the pertinent point is "does it form any sort of disguise?" If dreadlocks cover the face, then yes, you invite attention.Granted there will always be exceptions, but generally with hoodies, "If the cap fits, wear it!" Dreadlocks etc are not banned in banksActually, it's just common sense. The origin of the hoodie as a fashion was to intimidate. It became fashionable after evil devils rose up out of the ground in the Ghostbuster movie. Individuals who rather enjoyed the feeling of intimidating other folks, were quick to adopt it as a fashion. Others followed, not realising the inference of such behaviour in public. Any outrageous fashion gimmick is attention-seeking. For all our high tech advances, we are still quite primitive as a species, don't you agree? We are off topic, but it's fun.
@pipsqueak
Posted on 10-05-2017 18:49 | By maildrop
You change your tune even when it's in black and white for all to see. You definitively called hoodies a disguise and when pulled up on by Mr Fuhrer you try and weasel your way out. It's there for all to see. The fact that you think people can't read it says a lot for your state of mind. Full of it.
Hoodies`
Posted on 10-05-2017 21:45 | By Papamoaner
The nearest I will ever get to wearing one is if it rains in the bush when I'm hunting and I pull the hood of my Swanny up. But you wouldn't catch me like that in town if it aint raining. I would feel like a right twit and many people would think I look like one too. As for getting petrol like that, well, let's not even go there!
Prepay at pump
Posted on 11-05-2017 12:15 | By Papamoaner
Prepay is very inconvenient for those of us who have more than one vehicle and different drivers who are required to fill right up then enter an odometer reading into the logbook (for obvious reasons). Fleet cards lack vendor flexibility. Minimising diesel bug risk also means keeping tanks full. Prepay caught on for a while, but the best method in use now, is manual pump switching via shop assistant scrutiny of the customer. For most of us, the pump activates as soon as we pull in because we "look kosher" But don't expect the pump to activate if you wear a hoodie or similar disguise. Like most ATM's now, some bowser vendors are installing semi-covert cctv to get close-up facial ID. Thus, the popularity of this kind of criminal theft will likely soon diminish.
@maildrop
Posted on 13-05-2017 11:26 | By Papamoaner
Appears you might have completely misunderstood the conversations on this thread and got the wrong end of the stick. Before accusing people of things they might not have said, it might pay to read threads more carefully old chap.
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