I got this from a co-worker whose brother works for the local police department...

I'm not sure if its a joke meant to scare people, if it's real, or if it's old news. Personally, I'm not willing to take the chance...

[MSG Attached Below]

My name is Captain Abraham Sands of the Buffalo, New York 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
Rochester area alone there have been 17 cases
of people being stuck by these needles over
the past five 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
seeing them reported on the television. At
this point no one has been arrested and
catching the perpetrator(s) has become our
top priority.

Shockingly, of the 17 people who where stuck,
eight have tested HIV positive and because of
the nature of the disease, the others could
test positive in a couple 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 a needle affixed to one,
immediately contact your local police
department so they can collect the evidence.

[END Attached MSG]

As you can see, this is a sick f****** thing to do and definitely not worth risking for the 2 seconds it takes to check out a stupid gas pump.

Again, if this is old news or a joke, I apologize, but not worth ignoring if the possibility was there.

-- GB

[i]Edited to make title bold...[/i]

I believe this is a pretty old urban legend - let me check the urban legends database.

Best way to comfirm is to look for a newspaper article or check that polise deprtmaents records.

But to be on the safe side, I think I'll look from now on.

Better safe than sorry.

thanks
sgb

Like I said, came from a woman I work with's brother who is local police... The email did not have the usual forwarding history so I didn't "auto nuke" it.

Even if it is a joke or a myth, 2 seconds of my life to check a pump wont kill me...

-- GB

Checked it out at [url]www.snopes2.com[/url]

Urban legend from June 2000 - originally "Captain Sands" was from somewhere in Florida.  There has never been a documented case of this - purely a hoax.

Here's the original email from June 2000:


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 five 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 seeing them reported on the television. At this point no one has been arrested and catching the perpetrator(s) has become our top priority.

Shockingly, of the 17 people who where stuck, eight have tested HIV positive and because of the nature of the disease, the others could test positive in a couple 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 a needle affixed to one, immediately contact your local police department so they can collect the evidence.

PLEASE HELP US BY MAINTAINING A VIGILANCE AND BY FORWARDING THIS EMAIL TO ANYONE YOU KNOW WHO DRIVES. THE MORE PEOPLE WHO KNOW OF THIS THE BETTER PROTECTED WE CAN ALL BE

Send your friend the link to the urban legends page (they have a search function - it took me 10 seconds to locate it), and ask her to check before spreading unecessary fear to her friends.

Kewl I will lock the thread and let it go...

I never forward this crap to anyone and didn't have time to check on it... (late for a meeting now!)

Gotta run, thanks!

-- GB