Gasoline that now costs an average of $4 a gallon in Hawai'i is tempting more and more criminals.

From company base yards to high-rise parking lots and even city streets, gas theft is on the rise, according to trucking companies, auto mechanics, business owners, auto parts suppliers and ordinary citizens.

"It's worse than copper," said Darren Okuhara, owner of Okuhara Auto and Truck Repair.

Earlier this month, thieves climbed the fence at the Lanakila Meals on Wheels parking lot in Liliha and stole gasoline from its vans for a third time.

The gasoline lines were cut to get the fuel, said Remy Rueda, the agency's director.

"Each time we have to take it to the shop, it costs somewhere between $300 and $350," Rueda said, which is money the financially strapped nonprofit can ill afford.

The damage also delayed the delivery of meals to some of the agency's elderly clients.

With 260 trucks across the state, U-Haul Hawaii has lost thousands of dollars of gasoline to thieves, said Don Rickard, the company's district manager.

At U-Haul's Pearl City site, thieves recently stole not only gas, but hot-wired a vehicle and drove it through the locked gate after damaging 35 vehicles. The truck was recovered, but the damage was done.

Police suggested the company get security video cameras. "Their advice is to get the best surveillance videos you can and keep turning them in. Sooner or later they'll get caught," Rickard said.

But that hasn't always proven successful, he said.

"In Waipi'o Gentry we've been hit several times by a white pickup truck that has a big tank in the back of the rig," Rickard said. "The same guy just pulls up, sticks in the hose, turns on his pump, siphons the gas and away he goes. We've turned in video of him doing it three or four times a month, but he keeps using stolen license plates. It's extremely frustrating."

LOCKING GAS CAPS

Honolulu Police Department spokeswoman Michelle Yu said the department does not specifically track gas theft, although it is taking a closer look at doing so as reports increase.

Okuhara, the owner of Okuhara Auto and Truck Repair, said larger vehicles make more tempting targets for thieves because they carry more gas, but owners of ordinary cars should also beware.

The targets include "apartment building parking lots, deserted parking lots, anyplace where nobody goes around," he said.

Avoia Tanuvasa, who works at the Aloha Gas Station on 10th Avenue, said gas was stolen from her daughter's van while it was parked in front of their home on New Jersey Avenue in Palolo.

"She woke up and the gas cap was off and the tank was empty," Tanuvasa said.

Braden George, co-owner of the Kapolei NAPA auto parts store, said there's been about a 25 percent increase in sales of locking gas caps at his store over the last four months or so.

Locking caps cost about $18 to $20, while those that don't lock cost about $8 or $9, he said.

While some buyers have already had gasoline siphoned, others have heard gas theft stories and "are doing it as a preventive measure," George said.

Several mechanics said they don't recommend the locking caps, believing they are easily removed with the right tools. It may also encourage a desperate thief to go under the vehicle and, instead of a gas cap replacement, the owner could end up paying for a gas line repair costing hundreds of dollars.

LARGE VEHICLES SOUGHT

Gas thieves tend to target companies with large trucks parked overnight in isolated areas, said several mechanics.

Duane Ozaki of Roy's Kalihi Automotive Center & Towing, said a bus company that his shop services has been hit several times. The target has been the company's 15-passenger vehicles.

He declined to name the bus company.

At one of the company's yards where there are five vehicles parked overnight, "in the last year, I'd say every bus (has been hit) at least once or twice."

Larger vehicles can carry 20 to 30 gallons, while a typical passenger car will hold 15 to 20 gallons, Ozaki said.

And it doesn't matter what neighborhood they're in, either. "Even in places that supposedly the neighborhoods are better, these things are happening, sad to say," he said.

"The people know nobody lives at these yards," said Sonny Borja, owner of Sonny's Service and Repair. "And they also know that on the base yards, only the buildings have alarms. The vehicles have no alarms."

STEEL GAS LINES

The gas systems for many of today's vehicles make it difficult to siphon gas out through the filler neck, but it is easier to cut into the gas line.

The gas lines of most vehicles today are made primarily with plastic tubing, not metal. "They cut that hose, stick a siphon hose in, and suck out the fuel," Borja said. "All they use is a straight edge blade, a piece of garden hose and a pail."

George Nitta, owner of Nitta Auto Repair and the host of radio and webcast automotive programs, said that in California, gas thieves have customized car jacks so that they can easily rip apart a fuel line and take the gasoline.

Cutting a gas line to steal gas is dangerous, Nitta said. "What the thieves don't understand is the gas is very hazardous."

Nitta said he recommends installing a steel gas line for those who have had problems with gas theft.

However, it would cost about $150 to have a steel gas line custom-made, Nitta said. That's compared with $15 or $20 for a typical rubber or plastic one, he said.

"If they're crazy enough to go cut a steel line to steal the gas, they should be welcome to it," Nitta said, referring to the sparks that could cause the fluid to ignite. "All they need is one spark from that saw and that's it, you're done."

Nitta suggests that businesses with lots of vehicles should not leave them in company yards.

"Have the employees take them home," he said.

BEEFING UP SECURITY

M. Dyer and Sons, a Pearl City moving and storage company, said people who ran out of fuel while driving on the freeway used to hop over the fence and try to siphon gas from the company's vehicles.

Not anymore, said company president Rebecca Parker.

"We hired a security guard to watch our fleet and our operations when the company's not fully staffed here," Parker said. "It's unfortunate that the world's come to that, where we need that type of expense to keep their property safe."

State and city agencies with large fleets said they have not been hit, among them the University of Hawai'i-Manoa and the city's Automotive Equipment Service Division, which oversees about 2,100 vehicles.

At the state's Automotive Management Division, Division Chief Brian Saito said only one van out of a fleet of about 350 vehicles had its fuel stolen over the last year.

State Transportation Director Brennan Morioka said one reason for the few gas thefts from government agencies is security.

The airports, highways and harbors divisions all keep their vehicles well-guarded around the clock, he said. "Typically, it would be very difficult to get in and out."

SECURE FUEL SYSTEMS

Roger Morton, president of O'ahu Transit Services, operator of TheBus, said he's asking his top lieutenants to "recheck their systems of accountability" to ensure its gasoline is secure.

Morton said he is not as worried about TheBus' fleet of 525 passenger buses and 139 Handivans because most use sophisticated fuel systems that are hard to break into.

Other company trucks and vehicles, however, could be more vulnerable, he said.

As bad as things are, Nitta, the mechanic, predicted more thefts in the future.

"There's not that much yet, but there will be," he said. "Once the gas hits $5 and $6, there's going to be more and more."