Police target fuel thieves

By Sarah Schwager
PAKENHAM police will increase their patrols around local petrol stations as high petrol prices see an increase in the number of driveoffs.
Pakenham Acting Sergeant Stuart Halligan said police patrols would hopefully deter wouldbe thieves.
Act Sgt Halligan said all of the local petrol stations had seen a recent rise in driveoffs.
“While petrol prices are high we have a bit of trouble with it. We tend to have at least two or three reported a week,” he said.
Police arrested a 20yearold Mornington man last Thursday and charged him with stealing petrol from the Ampol service station in Pakenham on the Princes Highway.
Act Sgt Halligan said police units would sit in the driveways of petrol stations during highrisk times such as peak periods in the afternoons and after 7pm.
“All the local petrol stations have their fair share of thefts and we will be targeting wouldbe thieves at all of them,” he said.