A California man resorted to stealing gas for his vehicle in order to save money, but his attempt to save an extra buck in a tough economy ended with him burning to death.
The Los Angeles Police Department found the body of Richard Glover in his van on Dec. 10, and determined that he burned to death when his van exploded moments after he stole gas from a local gas station, according to Los Angeles CBS affiliate KCBS.
“It was like boop…and it blew the window out,” Hervia Robertson, the gas station security guard who witnessed the fire, told the television station. She said the explosion caused a nearly 10-foot-high fireball.
According to officials, Glover entered a 76 Station in South Los Angeles to pay for gas, and then got into his van and drove to the rear of the gas station.
LAPD spokesman Officer Manuel Gomez told CBS LA, “it appears there’s some type of pump coming from the vehicle to the port of the tank.”
Police found two 55-fuel gallons, a pump and an inch-wide water hose inside the van. Officials said they believed Glover was trying to steal gas from the station’s underground tank when his van exploded.
The attempt wasn’t the first time Glover stole gas; his family said he would steal gas when things got financially tough and had been injured before.
“He got burned one time. That should’ve been enough,” Ivan Jackson, Glover’s brother-in-law, told KCBS.
