Teen faces twin charges

– Callan Date
AN ENDEAVOUR Hills teenager faces two charges of stealing petrol from a service station.
Police said a 19-year-old man drove off without paying for petrol on two separate occasions in January and February this year.
Narre Warren Detective Senior Sergeant Ian Wilcox said petrol drive-offs had decreased dramatically since the middle of last year, when the crime was at an all-time high.
He said several reasons had combined to halt the number of people not paying after they had filled up their tanks at the bowser.
“The reduction has been due to a targeted approach to the suspects who commit the drive off,” Det Sen Sgt Wilcox said. “Full investigation of each crime has also helped.”
He said Operation Safe Plate – a program introduced in Casey last August – had also halted the rise in drive-offs.
Safe Plate allows motorists to fit anti-theft screws to their number plates and minimise the chance of having their plates stolen and used in a petrol theft.
Det Sen Sgt Wilcox said police would continue their crackdown on anyone attempting to fill up for free.
“It is theft and it is a criminal offence,” he said.
An Endeavour Hills man is set to appear before the Dandenong Magistrates’ Court on 21 June.