A DANGEROUS PRANK

Authored by BlueAngel on
Wednesday, April 21, 2004

The ubiquitous Internet is where the following information has come from. A friend of mine (of over thirty years) sent to me so it could be passed along to the community. She does not claim nor do I that this particular prank has occured here in this vicinity but it is worth passing along as a preventative matter concerning possible infection(s) or harm to all.

She rec'd this information from friends in Jacksonville, Florida.

Subject: GAS PUMP

Addendum

30 May 2004

Since posting of this "blog", "A Dangerous Prank", I rec'd a correction on the validity of the item. It was descovered to have been a hoax that has been around for about 4 years. It is truly unfortunate that this has occurred. For this, I do apologize.

It was never intended that anything should be placed in this informational type journal that would be detrimental to anyone or their loved ones. I am not going to delete the hoax so that people will realize that we can all fall prey to the many hoaxes that are out there not only in cyberspace but in real life.

Thank you.

"Read this before your next gas fill-up:

Please take a couple of minutes to read this warning about Gas Pumping Handles.

WARNING: Look at the gas pump handles BEFORE you pump your gas. Please read and forward to anyone you know who drives a car.

My name is Captain Abraham Sands of the Jacksonville, Florida Police
Department. I have been asked by state and local authorities to write this email in order to get the word out to car drivers of a very dangerous prank that is occurring in numerous states. Some person or persons have been affixing hypodermic needles to the underside of gas pump handles! These needles appear to be infected with HIV positive blood.

In the Jacksonville area alone, there have been 17 cases of people being stuck by these needles over the past 5 months. We have verified reports of at least 12 others in various states around the country. It is believed that these may be copycat incidents due to someone reading about the crimes or see them reported on the television. At this point no one has been arrested and catching the perpetrators has become our top porioity. Shockingly, of the 17 who were stuck, 8 have tested HIV postive and because of the nature of the disease, the others could test positive in a couple of years.

Evidently, the consumers go to fill their car with gas, and when picking up the pump handle, get stuck with the infected needle. IT IS IMPERATIVE TO CAREFULLY CHECK THE HANDLE OF THE GAS PUMP EACH TIME YOU USE ONE. LOOK AT EVERY SURFACE YOUR HAND MAY TOUCH, INCLUDING UNDER THE HANDLE.

If you do find find a needle affixed to one(handle), Immediately contact your local police department so they can collect the evidence. PLEASE HELP US BY MAINTAINING A VIGILANCE, AND BY FORWARDING THIS INFORMATION TO ANYONE YOU KNOW WHO DRIVES. THE MORE WHO KNOW OF THIS, THE BETTER PROTECTED WE CAN ALL BE.

Rose Lambert,
Chief Aide to Supervisor Gerry Hyland, Mount Vernon District
2511 Parkers Lane
Alexandria, Virginia 22306

PLEASE READ THIS AND PASS IT ON TO EVERYONE IN YOUR ADDRESS BOOK"

(MY COMMENT: I HOPE THIS IS NOT TRUE BUT IF IT IS A WORD TO THE WISE SHOULD BE SUFFICENT. It could happen with other types of infectious diseases than HIV that can be just as deadly. Ethel Taylor aka BlueAngel).