The Big Steal

Now there are certain guys in and around Brooklyn who have been hijacking 3,000-gal. gasoline trucks for a month or so and making themselves a nice piece of change. So far, they have knocked over at least 15 belonging to Texaco, Mobil, Exxon and others. The companies store gasoline and oil in Greenpoint, a factory area in Brooklyn where the barges come up Newtown Creek and unload. The gas is trucked around New York City, and it does not take a genius to know that the trucks all have to take the same main roads.

These guys stand at a stop light where the trucks pass, and when one stops they step up to the driver's side and shove a piece in his ear and tell him to get down on the floor unless he wants his brains blown out. The driver, not being willing to die for dear old Texaco, does what he is told, and a plastic bag is yanked over his head to help keep him quiet. These guys prefer unmarked trucks because, say, a Mobil truck pulling up to an Exxon station might draw the attention of a prowl car. They drive to a friendly gas station, usually an off-brand place where a deal had been prearranged, sort of a hijack-to-order. It is not too shrewd to grab a tank truck and cruise the streets. Anyhow, the gas is pumped out, and the hijackers are handed 50-c- a gal., which is 15 big ones and O.K. for a couple hours' work.

These guys are not from the Mafia. In fact, they are blacks. The field has been left clear to them by the Gambino family, which controls hijacking in Brooklyn but prefers--at least for now --to concentrate on higher-profit Scotch or cameras or fur coats.

Things were going pretty good until last week, when 17 Texaco drivers refused to take the trucks out of Greenpoint on account of four had been knocked over already, and one of the drivers was almost killed when the plastic bag over his head started to suffocate him before he could escape. So company bosses said they would put the Texaco logo in letters 17 in. high on its trucks, to replace the small sign on the door of the cab, which was not very noticeable from 50 ft. away. They also promised to think about some other steps like beefing up security and changing the pattern of deliveries, although nobody will start to ride shotgun.

Pretty smart. But these hijackers are not so smart. One of the companies that lost a couple of trucks is believed to be controlled by the Mob. If true, the guys had better hope the cops find them before the Mafia does.

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