 |
|
|
|
|
   
|
Stop stealing my fuel: resident Daniel MacIsaac Northern News Services Published Wednesday, August 3, 2011
But he said he was still shocked, and disgusted, early last Saturday morning when he went to drive his pickup truck to work only to realize it was out of gas ... that, in fact, the lid of the gas tank was open and the tank had been syphoned dry by a thief or thieves during the night - and that, what's more, two more jerry cans of gas had been stolen off his front porch.
"I mean, are you kidding me?!" Day said, outside his Anson Drive home Monday afternoon. "I work hard for a living - with water and sewer all day - why should I work hard so they can rip me off?!"
Day said a couple factors add even more insult to the injury.
The extra gas was left over from a three-day fishing trip to the East Arm that he and a friend had taken the weekend before. He figures, all together, the gas was worth more than $140 - meaning, now that it's gone, his trip has become that much more expensive.
"And we were feeling like kings out there - my buddy was the skipper, and we had a great time," he said. "Now, because of this, it's like fish we caught cost me $47 a pound."
Day returned to the idea that a person would have to sink pretty low to sneak around and suck gas out of a stranger's vehicle. Indeed, he said he was so disgusted at the thought that he later took a marker and a cardboard box and made a sign that he left at the end of his driveway over the weekend. It reads in part: "Dear dumb ass, I have you on camera stealing my gas, so you have 24 hours to bring it back."
The sign goes on to threaten the thief with the police if the gas wasn't returned, though Day said he actually has little faith that the authorities - who he has not called yet - can help in such a matter. He also admitted he didn't videotape the incident, though has since beefed up the security at his house, including installing a lock on his backyard fence.
Day said the point of the sign was really to make the thieves think twice.
"I tried to make the guilt work on them," he said. "It didn't."
Day said another aggravating factor is that his truck - a bright red Ford Ranger sport model - is new, just a month old.
"It's the first brand-new thing in my life," he said. "I'm hitting 50 soon, and I never stole anything in my life.
"I put fuel in my truck," he added. "I don't believe somebody else needs to suck it out and burn it in theirs.
"It's not fair."
Day said he knows the kind of petty crime that includes stealing gas exists, and that the high cost of living in the North can make some people desperate. But he is still upset that he - and he said a few other neighbours - have been targeted.
They live on a quiet part of Anson Drive in Northland Trailer Park, near a cul de sac that also includes a pedestrian access way to the Frame Lake Trail.
A few of his neighbours said they'd seen Day's sign and heard some gas was stolen. But several others were surprised to hear the story or that there were thieves running around.
"Nobody comes around here normally and bothers us," said Clarence Gardebois. "There's no problem, really."
As for Day, he hopes his days of losing gas to thieves are over. He said he's installed an anti-theft coil in his gas tank to prevent anyone syphoning off more gas in future.
RCMP Const. Kathy Law said police have not received any reports of stolen gas in the community as of late.
|
