JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Nine different local stores owners have been sucked dry. Not from a new insect, or vacuum cleaner---but by a new crime wave moving into Jacksonville. All 9 had their gas tanks bled dry. All 9 were from local businesses which had fleet type vehicles with large gas tanks.

One of those businesses is the Budget Rental Truck on Roosevelt Boulevard. Edgar Marquess says when he opened his store Monday morning; he saw a truck in the driveway with no gas. When he took it to get filled, he knew something was immediately wrong.

Shut the gas pump off---because at that time I was standing in gasI knew instantly what it wasI heard they were cuttingand its going straight out on the ground. My next thought was---how many other trucks?

Marquess Budget truck had the fuel line cut, and 35 gallons of regular unleaded was drained out. Even though thats a lot of gas, its nothing compared to some of the police reports we found at JSO Headquarters.

In the 1700 block of St. Johns Bluff Road South, someone siphoned more than 35 gallons of gas from a Penski truckin the 10,000 block of Main Street North, someone took 15 gallons out of a Napa Auto Parts truck. The UHaul in the 1600 block of Edgewood Ave West had five of its trucks broken intoall five had gas siphoned from themThe Ikon Office Solutions building in the 4800 block of Executive Park Court was hit up for more than 110 gallons of gas when their diesel work trucks were siphoned fromThe UHaul in the 3100 block of Southside Boulevard had one truck hit for 20 gallons5 Budget Rental trucks were siphoned from at the Meineke Car Care center in the 7400 block of Lem Turner RoadAnd the Cintas Fire Protection service was hit when one of their trucks was burglarized, and all the gas was taken from it.

This is definitely a trend weve been picking up on, says Melissa Bujeda of the Jacksonville Sheriffs Office. What you need to do is be eyes and ears for each otherneighbors keep a lookoutwhen you see someone suspicious in the area let us know.

The JSO says there arent many things you can do to protect yourself from becoming a victim of gas theft. The Sheriffs Office suggests for businesses, put up a security fence. It says you should get video surveillance equipment, and security sensors. Investigators say any deterrent helps.

Detectives tell us to prevent gas from being stolen out of your personal car, you can get a locking gas cap, but that wont help if the crook just punches a hole in your gas tank. Police officers tell us the best defense comes from your neighbors. They say neighbors need to be on the lookout for suspicious activity and report anything at once to the sheriffs office.