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Police: 2,770 Gallons Of Fuel Stolen From St. Pete Gas Station

News Channel 8 photo by PAUL LAMISON

Padlocks on two of three underground tanks at the Mystik station were discovered missing.

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By STEPHEN THOMPSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 12, 2008

ST. PETERSBURG - Some $10,000 worth of gasoline was pilfered from two tanks at a St. Petersburg gas station this week, St. Petersburg police said.

Padlocks on two of three underground tanks at the Mystik station at 1501 34th St. S. were discovered missing Thursday, St. Petersburg police spokesman George Kajtsa said. The padlocks secure valves for the tanks, he said.

A total of 2,770 gallons of regular and "plus" fuel had been siphoned out of the two tanks, Kajtsa said. That amounts to a $10,000 loss based on what the gas station owner pays wholesale, Kajtsa said.

The loss was discovered Thursday morning, when employees used measuring sticks to determine how much gasoline is in the tanks, Kajtsa said. After the sticks were withdrawn from the tanks and only 6 1/2 inches of the sticks were covered in fuel, the owner determined, based on invoices, that only 106 gallons remained in one tank and 126 in another, Kajtsa said.

This was the first theft of its kind in St. Petersburg, Kajtsa said. Pasco County, however, experienced a similar theft recently, he said.

Editor's note: And earlier version of this story misidentified the gas station.

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