Williston Station Battles Drive-Offs

WILLISTON, N.D. (AP) — Gas drive-offs have become more common in the western North Dakota oil patch hub of Williston as the region's population booms.

One station, West Side Fuel, reported more than $34,000 in losses in 2012 due to drive-offs, in which people fuel up their vehicles and then drive off without paying.

The station last year implemented a policy in which potential customers have to provide identification before the store will turn on a pump, but employee Myla Hallgrimson says thieves are now turning to fake or stolen IDs. The Williston Herald reports that the station last year still had about $6,300 in gas drive-off losses — and a growing collection of discarded IDs.

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