Soaring gas pump prices are fueling an epidemic of gas-tank siphon thieves - and triggering a boom for locking gas caps to thwart them.

With gas heading toward the $5-a-gallon mark a surge in gas thefts from parked cars is the latest energy crisis to hit consumers, with widespread police reports coast to coast of tanks being drained in broad daylight.


One woman in a quiet Staten Island neighborhood left her BMW in her driveway with an $80 full tank of gas to take public transit, only to return from work to find her tank virtually empty.

Even cop cars are getting hit, with the NYPD ordering 400 locking gas caps on certain vehicles to cut down on the high tabs for replacing stolen gas.

"Demand is skyrocketing," said Chris Hoffman, a marketing officer at automotive supplier Stant Inc., the nation's biggest maker of locking gas caps, where orders more than doubled in the last few weeks.