Teen Accused Of Stealing Over $40,000 Worth Of Fuel From Gas Station With Card Trick

San Diego authorities have arrested a 19-year-old man who they believe stole $42,000 worth of gas from a station in the South Bay area over several months—a feat that raises the obvious question: how does someone pull off such a theft without resorting to hijacking a fuel truck or orchestrating a high-speed chase?

Well, according to the Imperial Beach Sheriff’s Department, the suspect somehow managed to manipulate the gas pumps using his credit card. This trick made the fuel system think the pump was in use, but without actually charging the card. In other words, the pumps dispensed gas without the transaction ever being processed.

Read: Woman Accused Of Exploiting Pump Glitch To Get $28,000 Of Free Gas

Employees at the station report that the suspect visited the station at least twice a week over the past six months and is thought to have stolen around $2,000 worth of gas each time. Chevron’s IT department had already noticed discrepancies between fuel consumption and recorded sales. However, it wasn’t until staff reviewed security footage that they spotted a pattern: the same vehicle and unidentified man were repeatedly seen filling up at the same time unauthorized transactions were occurring.

Soon after workers realized what was happening, they called local police on the morning of December 2 when the man arrived at the station yet again. Police promptly showed up on the scene and found the man filling several large containers with gas in the back of his GMC Yukon.

The 19-year-old has been arrested on suspicion of grand theft and was booked into San Diego Central Jail while police continue to investigate the case.

Stealing gasoline in broad daylight would never end well for the man, and it was just a matter of time before the station realized what was going on. We get it: gas is expensive – as are plenty of other living expenses – but that should never give anyone an excuse to steal.