7/2/2009

But next time, leave it to the men in blue to chase down the bad guys

Way to go, Amanda! Don't ever do that again. That's our reaction to a inspiring story that reporter Tim Unruh had in Wednesday's edition. Unruh detailed how on Tuesday afternoon convenience store manager Amanda Morgan, 29, responded to the report of a gas skip at her store by jumping in her Jeep and tracking down the offenders. She then called police, who quickly arrived on the scene.

Amanda, who manages the Rod's Shamrock store at 1339 N. Ninth, told Unruh that a customer had spotted someone skip out after pumping gasoline. The customer got the license tag number.

Amanda got angry and decided she'd had enough. Haven't we all?

What is it with people who steal like this? Do they feel they're entitled to free gas? Did they do it for fun? Do they figure that even if they're caught, the penalty for a $34.80 gas skip would be no big deal?

We know what we'd like to do with the three people in the car: We regret that public flogging probably is out of the question, so how about a week in jail -- and not just sitting in jail. We're sure the county has some hot, nasty labor that needs to be done.

Then there could be a fine of, say, 10 times the value of the stolen gasoline. Maybe that would get some of these jackasses' attention.

As for Amanda, we admire her spunk, and her boss says she runs the store better than he could. But there are too many punks out there with guns who probably wouldn't hesitate to squeeze off a few rounds into someone, even over a $30 gas skip.

Amanda, your children need you, your boss (who chased down a gas skip a couple of months ago) needs you, we all need people who take thievery so personally, even when it's not directly coming out of their own pockets.

Great job, but please, don't do that again.

-- Ben Wearing

Executive Editor

822-1421

bwearing@salina.com

---

Discuss This Story:

---