Driver sought in killing over gas

[trof]

And now it's come to this...

Sunday, August 21, 2005
By DAVID BREWER
Times Staff Writer [e-mail]


Fort Payne (AL) station owner run over trying to collect tab

FORT PAYNE - A gas theft Friday left a Fort Payne service station owner dead and police looking for the driver who ran over the man to escape paying for $52 in gas.

The driver dragged Caddi across the parking lot and onto Greenhill Boulevard (U.S. 11), where Caddi fell from the vehicle and was run over by the vehicle's rear wheel, Walker said. The driver continued driving north on Greenhill, he said.

Police are looking for a gold, brown or tan, late model sport utility vehicle that resembles a Jeep Liberty or Ford Explorer. He said the driver was described by witnesses as a white male in his 20s or 30s, wearing a ball cap.


http://www.al.com/news/huntsvilletimes/index.ssf?
/base/news/1124616154290140.xml&coll=1

[Roon]

1. The station owner should have insisted on pre-pay for everyone

this tragedy could have been avoided.

[tx_dem41]

5. So, its the victim's fault. Got it.

Do you use the same logic when considering victims of rape?

[Roon]

8. If the station owner insisted on pre-pay

like most gas stations now do because of the high gas prices, this wouldn't even be an issue. No, it's not the victim's fault.

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

9. I don't think that the post inferred fault.

Just a way that the murder could have been avoided.

Prepay is a pain in the ass for people without cards, but with prices like this, I think more stations will go to it out of necessity.

You also need to weigh the statistics of man vs. car before trying to tackle one (a car).

[Cha]

12. Unfortunately this

Poor gas station owner, tragically, puts a face on the high price of gas.

[LisaL]

21. People have been stealing gas when it was cheap.

I ought to know, I worked at the gas station in the 1990, and there wasn't a day when somebody didn't drive off after pumping gas.
I hope they find whoever did it, and I am sure he will find that a long prison sentence is a fair trade for 52$ in gas.
:sarcasm:

[tabasco]

38. They'll catch 'em.

They must have a vehicle description. Crooks like this are not very smart and 99% of them get caught.

[roseBudd]

65. I live in the inner city, all the stations are prepay, and have been even

before higher gas prices.

[Wcross]

13. I don't know of ANY station around here that isn't pre-pay.

I love it when people get offended because they read more into a post than is written. LOL!

[DS1]

19. I haven't seen a pre-pay gas station in the last ten years

:shrug:

[Wcross]

20. So you gave up driving 10 years ago- or do you live in Jersey?

[DS1]

24. Neither

[HadItUpToHere]

28. do you mean a NON-prepay station?

until just the last few months, at most of the credit-card readers at the pumps in this area(Chicago)- you could use a debit-card without having to put in the PIN.

[DS1]

30. Nope

I mean pre-pay, haven't seen them.

[Horse with no Name]

42. We don't have them here either

:shrug:

[LifeDuringWartime]

49. none in upstate NY

although there are some on I-90. i cant remember if we were in Mass. or New York at the time.

[HadItUpToHere]

45. you've never seen a gas station where you use a credit-card at the pump?

wow.

[DS1]

48. I didn't say that

:)

[HadItUpToHere]

75. well, since pay-at-the-pump is a form of pre-pay...yes you did.

unless of course you went blind 10 years ago.

[barb162]

56. There aren't any pre-pay places around here but

when incidents like this start happening more frequently, I think pre-pay will be common. That poor station man. I saw some piece on TV a few weeks ago that said thefts were becoming more common as prices rise.

[TankLV]

15. I'm shocked that there are still any stations that don't have pre-pay.

I haven't run across one since the mid-seventies!

I've lived in Hawaii, California, Nevada, Ohio and New York, Oregon, Colorado & Lousiana.

[obxhead]

51. VA, NC, SC have very few

pre-pay stations in my experience. As a cash customer pre-pay really pisses me off too. I feel as if I'm being treated as a thief because a rare few actually are.
I do feel this will become more common in the future.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

17. And he would probably do so from now on except he's dead

You know hindsight :shrug:

[comsymp]

77. Well, maybe it'll serve as a valuable lesson to his widow

/can't believe i posted that, even in sarcasm

[LisaL]

26. The way the story reads, this could have been full service.

Otherwise, how did the owner managed to grab the SUV?
You would have to be right behind it when it drives off.
:eyes:

[genieroze]

35. How do you prepay when you don't know what the total will be?

[LisaL]

36. You give more, then go back and get you change.

:eyes:

[genieroze]

62. With gas prices going up everyday, you may be required to give them your

first born. I live in NJ, we can't pump our own gas and they don't ask you to prepay. I go to the same station and use my gas card so they know who I am anyway. lol

[kestrel91316]

37. You either give them a credit card, which they hang onto until

you are done pumping, then you go back inside and sign the slip and take the card back. OR you hand them some money and tell them which pump. Like: $20 on #3 please. If yu only want a little gas and have a big bill, you hand them, say, a 20 and tell them, say, $5 on #3. You go pump the gas and come back inside for your change. Or you hand them a 20 or whatever and tell them fill-up on #3, then come back inside for your change.

This is very ordinary and routine where I live, and has been for 20 years.

[hippywife]

52. Here in Tulsa

you just tell them how much you want and the pump number and they set the pump to stop at the amount you paid for. No running back and forth for change.

[kestrel91316]

53. I meant if you give them, say, a $20 for a fill-up and you

only wind up putting $15 worth in the tank, then you get change.

[karlrschneider]

54. Similar over here at Ft Gibson lake, OR we can pump then go in & pay.

They rarely have drive-offs without paying.

[teknomanzer]

68. I think your post needs an update...

Now you hand them 2 twenty dollar bills and say I need gas from the #3 pump... don't worry about going back for change though.

[Fridays Child]

2. And a bumper covered with Bush-Cheney stickers, no doubt.

[proud2BlibKansan]

3. $2 worth of gas

is less than a gallon. An SUV gets maybe 15 miles a gallon. So the guy couldn't have gone very far.

[shadowknows69]

4. Welcome to the world

of Mad Max folks.

[pimpbot]

6. $52 in gas...

sounds like a suv full tank to me!!!!!

[CatholicEdHead]

11. 52/2.50 = 20.8 Gallons

which is almost a full tank for a Liberty or Explorer. If gas was higher, then it would be much closer to 20 gallons of gas.

[proud2BlibKansan]

31. I could have sworn

it said $2. Now the OP has been edited. hmmmm

[trof]

32. Edited to ad AL after Ft. Payne.

I realized the state wasn't mentioned, so added (AL).
Original amount posted was $52.
hey, sometimes I read things wrong too. Especially numbers.
Maybe a bit dyslexic.
;-)

[spinbaby]

7. Read again

That's $52 worth of gas.

[TankLV]

16. Fifty Two Dollars, not 2.

[bemildred]

10. Now THIS is like the 70s. nt

[Art_from_Ark]

14. In Osaka, Japan there was a similar event about a week ago

A car got gas at a full service station late at night, and the attendant was in front of the car when the driver suddenly took off, with the attendant getting bumped onto the car's hood. The car then ran about 12 miles through the streets of Osaka with the attendant hanging on to the hood for dear life. Although the attendant eventually got flung off the car, fortunately, he only suffered minor injuries.

http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/national/news/20050810p2a00m0na010000c.html

[devinsgram]

18. This is sad, unfortunately this will not be the only story

we will be seeing like this. Everything is going up, but the paychecks remain the same. Watch for crime statistics to rise in the coming months. The higher the gas, the higher the crime rate.

[fortyfeetunder]

22. The 70's coming back

Stealing gasoline from parked cars will be the next new crime. We had that back in the 70's.

Gas-cap locks will be making a BIG comeback....

[trof]

25. Yeah, I mentioned locking gas caps a few weeks ago.

A lot of the youngsters never heard of them.
Guess it's time to get another one.
:-(

[Yavin4]

27. If We're Bringing Back the 70s

Can we bring back the sex parties, music, and great movies too?

[fortyfeetunder]

40. Might as well

'cause there will be few forms of entertainment once we can't drive anywhere!! :evilgrin:

[trof]

23. $80 fill up.

A few days ago I stopped for gas. When I pulled up to the pump, there was a young guy already filling a large pick-up on the other side of the pump. The name of a landscaping service was painted on the door.

I filled the 15 gallon tank of my Ford Focus wagon (about 29 mpg).
He was still pumping.
I went inside for a cup of coffee.
Got back to my car just as he was finishing up.
I had to ask.

"How much?"
He gave a sad smile.
"Eighty bucks. Jesus."
"Holy shit!"
"Yeah, right. I've already had to raise my prices. Everything I use in my business has a gas engine; the mowers, blowers, weed-whackers, edgers, chain saws. It's killing me. Now I'm telling my customers that I'll get to them when I have at least two other jobs in the neighborhood. A lot of them aren't happy, but what can I do?"
"Good luck."
"Thanks."

Grim.

[Horse with no Name]

43. I just had this discussion

I have a rather large lawn--over an acre front and back.
The guy that cuts it charges $25.
I decided I better increase it to cover the cost of gas. Lord knows he wouldn't ask for another penny.

[libnnc]

58. crap...landscaping services...I never thought of that

there have been so many new landscaping businesses that have sprung up in this area (NC) in the last 5-6 years. All these folks will go belly up.

[salin]

29. I have taken to peek at pumps previous fillup costs

when I drive up. Seeing $50+ has become common. I don't know how folks afford it - especially given that the cars with such large tanks (to hold that much gas) tend to burn gas at a higher rate - and thus probably have to fill up more often than I have to.

[jus_the_facts]

33. he sacrificed his life for 52 measly dollars......

...instead of investing in some security cameras to get licence plate numbers...stupidly sad and just the tip o'the proverbial iceburg. x(

[LisaL]

34. Oh gee! Lets blame the victim. Never mind the moron who

killed someone for the measly 52 $.
:spank: :spank: :spank: :spank: :spank: :spank:

[Orsino]

39. Can't they *both* have done wrong?

I see no reason yet to blame the victim for the crime, but I would consider blaming him for the stupid act of trying to chase an SUV driver in full testosterush.

If it turns out that the running over of the attendant was accidental, well, the victim might indeed bear a large part of the blame.

[jus_the_facts]

44. thank you......

...wasn't trying to place any blame on the victim...just pointing out an extremely sad fact...the man is dead and gone and the perp if found will be gone and wish he was dead...it's sickening and senseless all the way around. :eyes:

[sendero]

47. Sorry...

... an "accident" that occur during the commission of a crime is automatically the criminal's fault.

This guy will be charged with murder as he well should be. He was committing a crime and engaged in behavior far in excess of negligence.

Fuck him.

[LisaL]

57. Oh smarten up. It's not an accident if a robber injures or kills the

robbery victim. Running over the victim during the commission of the robbery can not be "accidental".
And you clearly didn't even read the article. What freaking attendant?
The victim was the one killed, not another person.

[Orsino]

61. Okay...owner, not attendant.

In what way does that make grabbing an SUV in motion a smart thing to do? Was he expecting to stop it, or did the Hulking up just not kick in quickly enough?

And, yes, it's possible for a killing in the commission to be accidental, whether or not it's eventually ruled an even greater crime. You're splitting legal hairs. Do you really see no difference between a robber trying to run someone down and one who might not even have known he was doing so?

Tell me again: are you not even willing to entertain the possibility that the victim made even one bad decision?

[LisaL]

64. WTF does it matter if I see a difference between someone

running over a man while trying to get away from robbery scene, and someone who runs this man over on purpose. I am sure it makes all the difference to a dead guy.
:sarcasm:

[Orsino]

66. Not all murder is the same. There are degrees of evil.

Vehicular manslaughter is not the same as first-degree murder.

As satisfying as slogans are, I hope that if I served on a jury, I would be willing to think about intent as well as results.

[LisaL]

67. Do you think the dead guy cares? He is just as dead regardless

of why he was run over. And if you were on the jury, I would hope that you understood that legally, murder committed during robbery can not be "accidental".

[Orsino]

69. That depends on the crime, and on the court.

But if I wanted jingoism, I'd be shopping elsewhere.

[Gregorian]

41. Road Warrior?

I always thought that crazy movie would be prophetic.

Sick.

[proud patriot]

46. gosh , that's awful

x(

[hayu_lol]

50. One solution would be to...

get the keys before filling the tank. Here in Orygun of course, we have no self-serve gas stations.

An alternative would be steel gates that rise up in front of the car being fueled. No doubt these two suggestions would be cheaper than a 50 cal machine gun crew set up at each station.

[KittyWampus]

55. wonder if that SUV had a Bush/Cheney sticker on it.

[LisaL]

59. I imagine that if it did, it probably would have been reported.

Considering they are looking for it.

[MountainMama]

60. Sad story....

And probably not going to be a solitary incident.

Here in Arizona, every station is either card-at-the-pump or pre-pay. At first it ticked me off, but I've gotten used to it. In VA and WV, those stations were the exception rather than the rule.

I was in Portland, OR a couple years back. I didn't know about the no-self-serve rule. I started pumping and the guy came out and took over. I thought it was so odd!

[StrafingMoose]

63. Just imagine what will happen when...

gas reaches 5$/gallon.

[Bmongilly]

70. Probably the same thing with cigarettes now

Cigarettes cost almost $5.00/pack now, and I am seeing more and more people rolling their own since it's much cheaper.

The point is: They are finding somewhere else to buy their cigarettes.

We need to find someplace else to get our oil.

Where? Offshore, that's where.

Can you think of a better idea?

[StrafingMoose]

71. Oil corporations...

have been doing this for 30 years and haven't found any major "Saudi Arabias" yet. Last big bonanza was supposed to be the Caspian sea, it turned out to be a dud. 20 out of 25 holes drilled were dry wells or very sulfuric low quality oil, in small pockets scattered all over the sea.

They have this way of discovering oil pockets with electromagnetic resonance (sic), I guess they can do it with sattelites now. Turns out 60% of world's know oil is in the middle east in an area as big as Texas.

[Bmongilly]

72. My dad used to be in the oil business

and he ran into the same problem. The majority of wells he drilled were dry or low quality oil. I believe they used devining rods back then to "locate" oil.

It seemed though that when all of our oil caverns were capped due to the fact that nearly all the oil was pumped out of them, I heard that it would take 25-30 years for these caverns to "regenerate." If this is true, then all we have to do is uncap the wells and begin pumping away.

The big problem with this of course is that many of the capped wells have housing communities around them and they don't really like the smell of crude oil in the morning, and I don't blame them. I remember when I smelled it many mornings at the house I grew up in until those wells were capped.

The sad fact is, the Saudis and the big oil companies are prospering in all this.

[napi21]

73. What I', expecting to see is the fillup drive off, or siphoning from

gas tanks stuff that happened in the 70's. That's when locking gas caps became popular!

I suppose both are happening, but not being publicized YAT!

[barb162]

76. good point; I vaguely remember that

[scarface2004]

74. in houston its even better..

the owner of the gas station is required to hold a gun pointed at you while you fill up...one false move and he s allowed to blast you to that great filling station in the sky!!!!

[lovuian]

78. This is going to get worse not better

:crazy:

[struggle4progress]

79. Killing for Iraqi oil has apparently set an example. eom