With fuel prices, the number of cases of diesel theft and fuel fraud in Bavaria has also increased. This was the result of a survey by the dpa news agency among the police headquarters in the Free State. The police headquarters in Central Franconia in Nuremberg reported for March 2022 in fuel thefts “a sevenfold increase in cases compared to March 2021 – obviously accompanied by the increase in fuel prices”.
According to the information, the number of drivers who disappear from the gas station without paying has also increased significantly: for January 2022, the police in Central Franconia registered an “around 100 percent increase in just under three digits” compared to the same month last year in March. In February 2022, the increase was somewhat lower at around 50 percent.
According to the Presidium in Würzburg, 25 cases in which petrol or diesel was stolen became known in Lower Franconia by the beginning of April. That’s four more than 2021 in the same period. The increase in fuel fraud was clearer: by the beginning of April, the police registered 176 cases – 46 more than in the same period last year.
The police headquarters in Swabia/South reported eight cases of fuel theft this year. “If the development remained the same, that would be an increase, but the overall number of cases is too low for us to dare to make a forecast right now,” said a police spokesman. “Accordingly, we would like to hold back with explanations.”
The police headquarters in Upper Franconia also observed “an increase in fuel thefts” in the first quarter of 2022 and also in cases of fuel fraud – but without quantifying them in each case. In contrast, the police headquarters in Upper and Lower Bavaria saw no increase in cases, and the headquarters in Munich also sees “no abnormalities”.
It is often trucks in rest stops or freeway parking lots or construction site vehicles that fuel thieves are targeting. In Burgoberbach, in central Franconia, for example, strangers stole around 1,000 liters of diesel from two tanks in a semitrailer. The damage: around 2000 euros. In Theilenhofen, also in Middle Franconia, around 300 liters of diesel were tapped from an excavator. But sometimes it also hits cars: in a Bamberg parking garage, strangers drew around 25 liters of petrol from a car, tore off the tank cap and drilled open the tank.