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Who Needs Enemies at the Gas Station

DW staff (jp)May 18, 2006

Police in Bavaria are in hot pursuit of a motorist who avoids paying to fill up at the gas station by leaving a "friend" as collateral and failing to reappear.

https://p.dw.com/p/8UqA
"Keep an eye on my friend...I'll be right back."Image: picture-alliance / dpa/dpaweb

Ok, gas prices are prohibitively high, but some people will stop at nothing to get out of paying to fill up.

One young woman from Saxony told a cashier at a gas station in Münchberg, Bavaria, that, oops, she didn't seem to have any cash on her. In a display of forbearance unusual in a country where people like to stick to the rules, the girl allowed her to head off to the nearest bank, accepting the motorist's friend as surety.

No show

Tankstelle
It's a jungle out thereImage: Volvo Car Corp.

But two hours later, she'd failed to return. Her faith in human nature no doubt dashed forever, the luckless cashier called the cops.

As for the "friend" - police investigations suggest she was probably an unwitting victim of a mean-minded hoax rather than a willing accomplice. Apparently, it wasn't the first time this tight-fisted trickster had pulled off the stunt -- she's been bamboozling gas stations and girl-friends across the country.

And while she drove off into the sunset, her long-suffering human deposit had no choice but to take the train home.