Thieves are drilling holes in cars to steal gas, causing hundreds of dollars of damage

ATLANTA — With the price of fuel going up and up, some people in Atlanta are getting even more frustrated after finding their cars have been completely drained of gas.

What appears to be happening is someone is going underneath the cars with a drill, then drilling holes in the gas tanks and catching the gas with a bucket.

One victim sent Channel 2′s Matt Johnson a photo of the damage the thieves caused to their car, costing them hundreds of dollars to repair.

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Several victims told Johnson that one day their cars wouldn’t start and they realized they were out of gas, even though they knew they had a full tank of gas.

After having their cars towed, they found the hole that had been drilled in the tank.

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“I’ve got almost $2,000 worth of damages, not just in the gas tank, but also damage the fuel pump, which is a pretty big issue,” one victim said.

One homeowner shared footage from a Ring doorbell camera with Channel 2 Action News that appears to show someone with what appears to be a gas can getting into a silver SUV right after a truck at the same home had a hole drilled in the gas tank.

Another security camera captured what appears to be the same SUV slowly driving through a nearby neighborhood on Sunday night.

“I caught the car driving away from my house. And it was the same one that others have reported,” he said.

Gas thefts have popped up in East Atlanta, Kirkwood, Edgewood and DeKalb County over the past month.

These thefts come as gas prices in the metro rise to nearly $4 a gallon.

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Many of these victims tell Johnson they’re moving their cars into driveways or better-lit areas to hopefully avoid being victimized again.

Police say they are actively investigating these thefts, but have not yet identified a suspect or suspect vehicle.

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