According to the Hamilton Police Service (HPS), the robbery took place between the late evening hours of July 27 and early morning hours of July 28, when two tractor-trailers made off with approximately 21,000 litres of Sunoco Gold diesel fuel.

Gord's Service Station closes for business at 7 p.m. and reopens the following day at 7 a.m. On Monday morning, when the low level warning alarm went off on one of his diesel tanks, Hume knew something was wrong.

"Our tanks are censored for safety. We monitor levels daily; it's the law," he explained. "The monitors had kicked in; they picked up on the tank levels."

A printout of the tank levels was obtained, which indicated the times the levels started to drop. According to Hume, the levels started dropping around midnight on July 28.

After reviewing his security camera footage, Hume told the Review that the first truck, which appears to be a refrigerated truck, pulled in next to Gord's Service Station at roughly 10:30 p.m.

"It just looked as though the driver pulled over to sleep, which is normal," he explained. Shortly after, the footage shows a second truck pulling into the station.

"They pulled behind the building; they were out of sight for a while where I suspect they did their planning," said Hume.

At the time of the robbery, Gord's Service Station sold its Sunoco Gold diesel fuel for $1.33.9 per litre.

HUGE BLOW

As an independent owner, the theft of such a large quantity of fuel was a huge blow to the business, but Hume is more concerned about the safety of drivers who find themselves next to the refrigerated trucks on the road.

"If they get into an accident, you may not think it's (carrying) explosive material, when in reality, you have a non-secure tank. If that ever exploded, innocent people would be hurt," said Hume of the safety hazards associated with the theft of fuel.

Hume resides next door to his service station. He believes the suspects used refrigerated trucks to conceal the noise associated with pumping the fuel from the tanks, as the trucks are insulated.

HPS reported that another Flamborough gas station was robbed of a large amount of diesel fuel in late June. Hume was given a heads-up when the June theft occurred and invested in surveillance equipment.

"I spent $3,000 on cameras and it was (on) those cameras that I added that we noticed the second tractor-trailer - the direction they came in from and which direction they left," explained Hume.

Since the theft, Hume has upped the ante once again and installed additional sensor lights in hopes of deterring thieves. But living and operating a business in West Flamborough poses some challenges when it comes to security.

"We are taking measures to step it up again but we are limited in adding one type of system because of the lack of (phone) lines," he said, explaining that the additional cameras would have allowed him to watch live footage via the Internet.

Although the suspects weren't caught red-handed, the video recording of the trucks shows that one of the vehicles has red or maroon coloured front fenders. A partial licence plate number is believed to start with the numbers 427 or 4273. Police also note that the trailer attached to this transport may bear the numbers K7705 or R7705.

Hume hopes the public can help locate the truck if the vehicle stops at a restaurant or truck stop. Hamilton police were also able to recover a photo of a suspect, which was released this week, and are asking anyone with information about the vehicles or suspects to contact Division Three Detective Office at 905-546-4930 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).

As for the small business owner, Hume will continue to run his business and hopes for justice in the case.

"Small businesses are supposed to be the engine of Ontario. If there is no justice, if the police don't arrest anyone and the thefts keep going like this, I guess you can kiss that engine good bye," he said.

"Small businesses like me can't operate without a justice system. I can't absorb a bunch of theft like that...not with that kind of dollar going out the door."