Man Rigs Van to Steal Nearly 400 Gallons of Gas

I guess it's the sign of these economic times. Or maybe the sad reality of man's nature. Or, maybe it's just ingenuity.

A Los Angeles man has been arrested after he was caught stealing nearly 400 gallons of gas from a local gas station. But it's how he did it that's drawing so much attention. Pictures show the man had converted his van into an elaborate gas-stealing machine. KTLA-TV reports:

Surveillance video shows the suspect park a large white van above an underground fuel container at a gas station and using a converted vacuum system to extricate the gasoline.

The video also shows the suspect pop the hood of the truck as a decoy, police said.

Police say the inside of the van was gutted and fitted with an intricate system of tubes and hoses hooked up to an air conditioning pump and a 60-gallon barrel.

According to Fox News, the crook has been doing this "for years:"