LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- The high price of gas is prompting another problem.

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The only thing worse than paying over $4 a gallon for gas is also paying for the people who are getting it for free. But that's what we're doing amid a gas theft epidemic.

They pull in, step out of view, fill 'er up and move fast when it's time to flee. They're young and old, and sometimes drive cars that make you believe they can afford the rising cost of gas.

They can even throw off clerks by displaying a credit card, but getting away without ever actually using it.

They are gas thieves. And while WLKY can videotape them and even chase them, we can't do much for the frazzled store clerks, many of whom said they're getting hit twice a day now.

"We have had an increase in drive offs we believe simply because of the increase in gas prices," said Capt. Dale Riggs of Vine Grove police.

Yet our investigation found that almost nothing is being done about the flourishing crime.

There have only been 86 gas thefts reported to police so far this year in Louisville, and out of 86 calls to police, only one has resulted in an arrest.

The other cases are still not cleared or victim refused prosecution.

"Technically, my understanding is no," said Metro Louisville Police Detective Phil Russell, when asked if a police officer could pull an accused gas thief over and arrest them.

"It's a function of the law," said Jefferson County Attorney Irv Maze. "The law says a misdemeanor must be committed in the presence of a police officer in order to have an arrest. It's as simple as that."

Maze said he'll prosecute gas theft if someone from the store swears out a warrant.

"When you add all these things up, the inconvenience, making sure it's this individual, making sure you got all the facts lined up, I think you're seeing the results," Maze said.

It's not much different elsewhere in Kentucky. A 2007 county-by-county breakdown shows one or two gas theft convictions for the entire year in most counties, with a few having four or five.

And as for the tough-sounding law that's been posted on Kentucky gas pumps for years threatening to take your license if you steal gas, there have only been a total of 80, statewide, in the past five years.

"I was handcuffed, locked up, taken downtown," said Marsha Holmes, who was named in one of the few gas theft cases filed this year in Louisville.

"I said, 'So what you're doing is identifying me for a crime that I didn't commit,'" she said.

She said she went in the store and prepaid for $10 in gas and didn't notice when the pump ran over that amount.

"It has really actually hurt me because of my name, my character, and how am I to get employment when they have me with a record and I didn't do anything wrong," she said.

The stores reporting gas theft the most last year and this year have no pre-pay policy and are located in places where the thieves have easy getaways -- without stoplights and quick access to highways.

If the store owners refuse to go to pre-pay, what's an employee to do about the problem?

One wrote us, "After being told over and over again that we have to do something about the driveoffs, the clerks get sneaky. We profile the pumps."

From our surveillance van, we recorded pump profiling over and over. In one instance, an African American woman repeatedly hit the "pay inside" button, but was eventually told she must use a credit card or come in and pre-pay.

After she drove off in the rain without getting gas, a man wearing a tie arrived and pushed "pay inside." The pump was activated, and a few minutes later, he went in to pay.

Speedway refused our request for an interview, but a representative told WLKY, "It's no different than shoplifting jeans at the Gap. The honest customers end up paying for it."

Thornton's asked us to submit our questions in writing, which we did, and then refused to answer any of them.

WLKY has had no reply from the Kentucky Convenience Stores Association.