Man gets hand stuck in gas tank, then gets arrested

A KWIK TRIP to an Upper Darby gas station left one man im-Mobil Thursday after he got his finger stuck in his fuel tank and firefighters had to conduct a gas trick bypass.

Even after the firefighters were able to get the man's hand from his fuel tank, the shell of one of the tank's parts still remained stuck to the man's hand.

With the piece of tank still attached, Christopher Bolger was taken by ambulance to an area hospital, but he couldn't just come and go from the facility because authorities discovered there was an active warrant for Bolger's arrest out of Philadelphia, said Upper Darby police Superintendent Michael Chitwood.

"It's dumb all the way around on his part," Chitwood said. "Stupid is as stupid does."

According to Chitwood, Bolger, 25, was at the Wash & Lube on West Chester Pike near St. Laurence Road around 5 p.m. when, for reasons known only to Bolger and his gas tank, he put his finger down the fuel receptacle of his green Ford Taurus and got it stuck.

"Perhaps he wanted to see if the tank was full," Chitwood said. "It's a good thing he didn't put any other parts in there."

CBS3 was on the scene of the bizarre incident and their cameras captured Bolger drinking water while firefighters tried to extricate his hand. He was then seen talking on his cellphone as he was wheeled away to an ambulance. According to CBS3's report, Bolger thought someone had put chocolate in his gas tank, and he was trying to fish it out.

Chitwood could not confirm that report and Upper Darby firefighters did not respond to a request for comment.

Firefighters had to use a torch or saw to get Bolger's hand out of the car but a piece of pipe leading into the gas tank remained stuck around his finger, Chitwood said.

EMS workers transported Bolger, of Berkley Street near Wayne Avenue in Germantown, to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, where the remaining portion of the tank was removed from his hand.

While there, however, authorities discovered that Bolger was wanted for failure to appear on a bench warrant for a protection from abuse order out of Philadelphia, Chitwood said, and he was taken into custody after he was released from the hospital.

Needless to say, the rest of Bolger's day was tanked.

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