Police are asking the public to help find suspects in two separate thefts of diesel fuel from construction equipment in rural Saskatchewan.
Const. Dave MacCarville of the Swift Current rural RCMP detachment said they aren’t the only fuel theft cases on file.
“It’s not new. It’s quite common.”
He said thieves pumped 350 litres of diesel out of a track hoe parked near the village of Success, Sask., between Dec. 23 and Jan. 2. The construction equipment had been left at a job site in the oil patch.
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“I know it’s hard for farmers and contractors to keep their equipment under lock and key,” MacCarville said.
“When you’re working on a job I know you can’t take them home every night but unfortunately when things are left out in the open like that, given the opportunity, some people will take advantage of it.”
Greg Marshall, president of the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan, blamed the increase in thefts on high fuel prices.
MacCarville said not much more can be done other than locking the fuel cap and putting a screen in the fuel line.
“Other than that, I don’t know of a whole lot you can do for these types of thefts anyway.”
Marshall agreed.
“I bet you 99 percent of the farms with fuel tanks are always locked up,” he said. “It’s common practice now.”
He said farmers have learned to minimize their risk during peak periods when they leave their equipment in the field.
“The practice is to fill them in the morning before starting so there isn’t that temptation.”
MacCarville said fuel thefts were more prevalent last summer than they were in winter.
“I know it’s probably going to be an issue again this summer. If farmers can keep their stuff out of the field or locked up, they’ll probably be better ahead.”
A theft of 1,100 litres of diesel also occurred during the Christmas holidays at a construction business near Aberdeen, Sask.
Sgt. Bruce Janes of the Saskatoon-Colonsay RCMP said the fuel was probably siphoned.
He said it’s not easy securing machinery in remote rural locations.
“With working equipment, it’s hard to take the batteries out and do this and that. Especially around here in the rural area, there’s not a lot of people around.”
Locking up machinery is no guarantee, he added.
“It’s easier said than done,” he said. “We’re just hoping that somebody hears something or knows something they can call into Crime Stoppers.”
