Thieves draining gas from school vans in West Seattle

WEST SEATTLE – Two West Seattle schools say thieves are siphoning gas out of their vans.

Hope Lutheran School and Seattle Lutheran High School share a parking lot and school officials tell KIRO7 five of their vans are repeatedly emptied.

“Our insurance company is helping us as well with some preventative measures, but it’s a drain on us,” said Seattle Lutheran High School executive director Dave Meyer.

Meyer said their vans have been emptied the last few weeks, most recently on Monday or Tuesday evening.

He added that the costs are starting to add up and the nonprofit school is not the only one paying for the costs.

“We have to pass on that to our parents, and they’re already paying some tuition,” said Meyer.

Officials from Hope Lutheran school did not want a formal interview, but told KIRO7 in a statement:

“It was an unfortunate incident to have occurred, and we’re grateful for our quick acting staff and that our students were not impacted in any way by this.

The vehicle is currently being fixed and will hopefully be back in service very soon.”

A West Seattle mechanic estimated that Hope Lutheran’s van repairs could amount to nearly $1,000.

That is because thieves punctured a hole in the gas tank, thus a replacement is needed.

“I’ve seen a lot of stuff, but nobody putting holes in fuel tanks just to get fuel out,” said Todd

Ainsworth, co-owner of West Seattle Autoworks.

And vans outside of King County have also recently had gas siphoned from them.

Last month, officials at the Boys & Girls Club in Snohomish said they had been hit ten times.

Today, Marci Volmer with the Boys & Girls Club said these crimes have decreased recently thanks to adding surveillance cameras and a new parking strategy.

They also are planning to add metal plates to the underbellies of their vans to prevent the siphoning.

According to Seattle Police, to help prevent siphoning, you should park in a garage or in a well-lit area, if possible.

In addition, the police advice you to call 911 if you see anything suspicious and they’ll check it out.