A thief stole gas worth $3,000 from a filling station by hacking the pump with his phone's Bluetooth, report says

• Police are investigating the theft of $3,000 of gas at a filling station in Detroit.
• The store says the gas pump was hacked using Bluetooth to override the payment system.

A thief stole almost 800 gallons of gas from a Detroit filling station after hacking into a pump using his cell phone's Bluetooth, Fox 2 Detroit reported.

The thief seems to have used Bluetooth to gain control of the gas pump and override its payment system at a Shell station in Detroit's west side, its owner told the outlet.

The owner, named Mo, said it essentially meant free gas for everyone.

"They can take as much gas as they want and allow other vehicles to pump gas as well," he told Fox 2.

A large car can hold about 15 gallons of gas, per the data analytics company JD Power. That means the thief got away with enough gas to potentially fill the tanks of more than 50 vehicles.

The owner said they eventually had to shut off all the pumps using emergency stops.

Police are now investigating the incident but could not confirm how the pumps were hacked.

"We don't know what kind of device was used, but we know it was an electronic device," Detroit Police Department spokesperson Justin Hearn said, per The Detroit News.

The gas station owner said staff remained on high alert and would call the police if they noticed anything suspicious, Fox 2 Detroit reported.

Thieves are finding ever more creative ways of getting around paying for gas as soaring US inflation continues to hit families hard.

US gas prices rose to their highest summertime levels in more than a decade this year, reaching a national average of more than $3.80 a gallon.

Prices have risen as Saudi Arabia and other producers reduce output in an attempt to maintain price stability, pushing oil close to $100 a barrel.

The Detroit Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider, made outside normal working hours.