INFO FROM A STATE TROOPER

A man recently found his license plate missing so he called the police to file a report. They told him people were stealing the plates to get free gas. Given the rise in gas prices, people have taken to stealing license plates, putting them on their car, then getting gas and running. The gas station will have "your" license plate # and you could be in trouble for "pump and run." Check your car periodically to be sure you still have a plate. If you should find it missing, file a report immediately!!! Keep an eye on your license plate! Make sure you always know it's there! When the license plate is reported as the "drive off vehicle", it's YOU they contact! Be aware!!!! Be aware of your license plates, most of us never look to see if the plates are there or not.

 

Thanks for teh info... I guess it's better than a hole in the gas tank...

 

Gez. I always pay with a debit card. I thought most stations had gone to pay at the pump or pay before you pump.

 

Right, I don't know of any place that will let you pump before you pay. They started implementing this procedure when it was only $2 a gallon

 

Here in TN many stations still let you pump first. Just a week ago one of our motor officers, and a good friend of mine got into a pusuit of a gas drive off suspect and got into a wreck. he broke his collar bone and had to have surgery. The suspect had driven off at least 10 TIMES ! stole over 800.00 worth of gas AND was driving a stolen vehicle. Checking your tag is a great idea. They steal them for more than just gas drive offs. If it gets reported stolen, then when I run it, I know what I'm dealing with and it may save my life.

 

Don't the police do a license plate/vehicle match check before putting the plate number on a watch list?

 

I financed my Crossfire with my drecit union (Navy Federal) and on their printed Master Promissary Note, it was labelled as a 4-door convertible. I have a Limited Coupe. I've called and they sent me a "revised" Promissary note with the same information. Now we can tell the difference, but if someone didn't know and all they were following was a computer.....

 

http://www.snopes.com/fraud/autos/gastheft.asp

i probably have gotten this email fifty times but didn't feel i should spread it any further.

 

I have a laptop in my cruiser. I try to run as many tags as I can while on patrol. If I run a tag and it does not match the vehicle, you get stopped. Most times someone put a plate on from one of their other cars for whatever reason. If its stolen, when I run the tag I get an alert to advise me that the tag is stolen.

 

Great idea, next time I get stopped for not having a front plate, I'll tell the officer it was stolen