Thieves Steal $25K In Fuel From Duncanville Valero Store

DUNCANVILLE, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) - For Mandeep Singh, the owner of Valero in Duncanville, the numbers just weren't adding up in his books. And that's when he discovered surveillance video showing thieves stealing hundreds of gallons of fuel at a time.

"They came up about 16 times altogether, and they stole 6,000 plus gallons of diesel," Singh said.

He said that equals just under $25,000.

"That's a lot of money, that's a lot of fuel that's been stolen from this gas station."

Singh believes the thieves have a key to open the dispenser and then reprogramed the system to avoid being caught.

"We believe the person who's doing this, he's already working for some type of petro company, because he knows way too much [about] dispensers," he said.

AAA Texas Spokesperson Daniel Armbuster said, while they see gas thefts even when prices are lower, it' has started happening much more frequently around the state and country since gas prices skyrocketed.

"Of course, with more expensive gas, thieves are taking advantage of the skills and tools they have and are really targeting unsuspecting drivers and businesses," said Armbuster.

Their crimes are hurting small business owners such as Singh, who said he's still hoping to recoup the losses from insurance - and to see the thieves held accountable for their crimes.