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PD: Police still on the hunt for gas siphoning suspects in Mesa

Posted at 3:46 PM, Oct 24, 2016
and last updated 2016-10-25 01:21:41-04
Mesa police are investigating multiple a gas siphoning incidents that happened in August and September.
 
Video surveillance shows a man in an apartment parking lot near Rio Salado Parkway and Alma School Road. Detectives said surveillance captured the suspect connecting an apparatus to another person's truck and stealing the gas. 
 
The suspect appeared to be pretending to reorganize items in his own car while waiting for the siphoning to be completed. The victim found the tank emptied and had to call AAA for a refill.
 
Police are describing the suspect as being a white man, 6'6" tall and 180 pounds with dark hair. Additionally, he's seen driving a two-toned Dodge Ram, single cab with a camper shell. 
 
That same month, Precision MMA said someone siphoned gas out of its van overnight and left the gas cap on the ground. Surveillance footage shows another man park a dark colored truck next to the martial arts school’s vans, walk around a few times before carrying over what appears to be a large gas can and eventually driving off.
 
"We park our vans super, super close now so it's hard to get between the two vans." owner Adam Gilbart said.
 
Gilbart explained that as a small business, even a $70 tank of gas matters but most importantly he doesn’t want to end up in a situation that’s unsafe for the kids in his after-school programs.
 
"That can really put us in a lurch if we come out, we don't have gas to get to the kids, pick them up, that really creates a big problem, then we're late to schools." Gilbart said.
 
Mesa Police also took a report of a siphoning incident on Sept. 30 near Riverview Park. Officers say 75-gallons of diesel was drained from the tank of an Oakland A’s shuttle van leaving the driving stranded, who also called AAA for a gas delivery.
 
Police do not believe the three thefts are connected. Anyone with information about either incident is urged to call the Mesa Police Department's non-emergency number at 480-644-2211.