WATERLOO -- Gas station owners are keeping a closer eye on their pumps as gasoline prices began to stabilize at record highs last month.

In the first 22 days of May, police and sheriff's deputies in Black Hawk County were sent to 60 reports of people driving off without paying for fuel.

The number isn't a marked increase over prior months, said Lt. Rich Carter with the Waterloo Police Department.

"I don't think this relates to gas prices. People do this by accident often," Carter said.

But with gasoline more than $3 per gallon and a razor-thin profit margin on fuel, shop owner stand to lose more each time a motorists steals or forgets to pay.

"Gas is very expensive, and we aren't making anything from the gas," said Ghulam Sabir, manager at the AmPride station on Whitetail Drive in Cedar Falls. The store uses high-definition cameras to check license plates, and employees call police with the tag numbers of drivers who don't pay.

The Petroleum Marketers of Iowa, a Des Moines-based trade group, has been giving convenience store owners stickers to place at their pumps warning that people caught stealing gas can lose their driver licenses under a new state law.

"Every day we are sending out dozens and dozens of these decals," said Dawn Carlson, president of Petroleum Marketers of Iowa.

Iowa law now allows judges to suspend a thief's driver's license for 30 days upon a second conviction for stealing gas.

Even so, few people are ever charged with taking gas in the first place.

"Most of the time, we do catch up to them. When that occurs, they are required to go back and take care of the bill," said Deputy Tony Thompson with the Black Hawk County Sheriff's Office, noting a lot of times it was an oversight.

Of the 60 gas drive offs between May 1 and May 22, 36 were handled without officers filing a written report. That usually means authorities broadcast a description and plate of the vehicle, and if it's found, the driver is directed to return to the store.

"Police call their homes, and they come back and pay," Sabir said.

Five of the 60 calls were canceled shortly after they were reported, indicating the driver returned on his own.

One of the cases where a report was filed involved a driver who pumped gas and then told the clerk he didn't have any money but would come back to pay, Carter said.

The motorist never returned, and it's doubtful he intended to -- his vehicle had Minnesota license plates.

And there is evidence of deliberate theft in other parts of Iowa, said Carlson, who noted reports of thieves who swiped gas after putting phony plates on their vehicles so they couldn't be tracked.

Store owners have been considering requiring motorists to pay before they pump, Carlson said, but that isn't always popular with customers.

"It's insulting to consumers who do pay, but when people steal gas that's a business loss," she said.

Most gas stations only make a few cents on each gallon of gas they sell, Carlson said, and the pumps are mainly a lure to get people to buy other items.

"If we can get people inside to buy candy bars and sodas, that adds up and that makes these stores run," she said.

By the numbers

Of the 60 cases in May, the Kwik Star at 1214 Franklin St., Waterloo, was the most popular store. The shop reported eight drive offs.

The Kwik Star at 506 W. Ninth St. came in second with seven reports, the numbers show.

On average, police received three gas drive off reports a day. Fridays were the busiest -- 13 of the calls happened on Fridays. Saturdays and Tuesdays came in a close second with 12 apiece.

Mondays were the lightest with only three drive offs.

The day with the largest number of drive offs was May 12, which had eight.

Contact Jeff Reinitz at (319) 291-1578 or jeff.reinitz@wcfcourier.com.