With rising gas prices often comes more people who refuse to pay the price, but driving off from a gas station without paying could mean a hefty fine or even jail time, local authorities are reminding.

The national average price for gas Friday was $2.92, which was up 71 cents from this time last year, according to AAA’s Web site.

The Indiana average price of gas Friday was $2.85, which was up 74 cents from this time last year and up 24 cents from this time last month. The highest recorded price in Indiana was $3.19 in September of 2005, the Web site says.

The average price for gas in the Louisville metro area Friday was the same as the state’s average of $2.85 and was up 71 cents from this time last year.

Gas prices traditionally climb during summer months, but local police departments aren’t liking the fact that the number of theft reports is climbing right along with fuel costs.

Jeffersonville Police Department Chief John Monihon said his department has seen a consistent increase in drive-offs since gas climbed to more than $2 per gallon.

“It’s been bad for some time,” Monihon said. “It just seems once it started getting around $2 a gallon, we started seeing an increase.

But drive-offs in Jeffersonville, Monihon said, have always been what they call a “nuisance crime” because of the city’s proximity to Interstate 65, but lately the irritation has gotten even worse.

“We’ve definitely seen an increase in the stations close to the interstate — more so than stations that are down in the heart of the city,” he said. “It’s an easy getaway. It’s easy for someone to get up on the interstate and then they’re gone.

New Albany Police Department Chief of Police Merle Harl said the number of drive-offs at local gas stations has more than doubled over the last two months.

“The number of drive-offs have really escalated here lately,” Harl said. “Our theft reports are going through the ceiling.”

And Harl said reports would continue to rise through the summer when gas prices are at their highest, until gas companies begin forcing people to prepay for gas.

“It’s like stealing gold out there. And there’s really no reason for it,” he said. “These gas companies could easily convert to prepaid pumps.”

Harl said it takes at least a half hour for a police officer to take a report and the department sees an average of about four or five drive-offs a day.

“You take a half hour out of an eight hour day, that’s a lot of time,” Harl said. “Then when you multiply that by four or five, it’s even more.”

Because most gas stations don’t have adequate surveillance systems that are able to zoom in to get license plate information or even allow for a vivid description of the suspect, Harl said it is almost impossible to catch most people who commit gas theft.

If they are caught, the majority of them receive only a fine. But for some habitual offenders, a drive off could mean a year and a half in jail, Harl said.