Attorney General to subpoena gas station owners

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Post a comment | E-mail this story | Print

This Dodge's in Dunedin is one of the gas stations being investigated for allegations of price-gouging.

This Dodges in Dunedin is one of six gas stations under investigation for allegations of price-gouging.

ORLANDO (Bay News 9) -- Attorney General Bill McCollum announced Sunday that his office would be sending subpoenas to the company headquarters of gas stations accusing of price-gouging during Hurricane Ike.

For the past few days hundreds of drivers all across Florida have been complaining about high gas prices.

McCollum announced that he is investigating four corporations for possibly breaking the law.

This weekend at the Flying J gas station in Seffner, customers, such as Kelvin Yow, were shocked at the price for gas.

"I got gas at the Flying J yesterday morning about 9 and paid $4.59 for a gallon, and the lady told me they went up a dollar in a day," Yow said.

Customers at the Dodges gas station in Dunedin were also stunned by the high prices there.

McCollum says that $4 or $5 a gallon that consumers may have paid on Saturday could have been the result of price gouging.

"The Dodges station, Valero, Flying J and Pilot," McCollum said. "Those seem to be the ones where most of the price increases have been in."

More Information

And those are the four independently owned corporations that have been slapped with subpoenas.

"We want to find out what was their rationale for increasing," McCollum said.

McCollum is asking for invoices from the four corporations. He wants to see whether they had a legitimate reason to boost prices while an emergency order was in place for the state because of Hurricane Ike.

"The issue isn't whether they go up," McCollum said. "The issue is whether local service stations or suppliers choose to increase those prices dramatically to gain a profit before the actual price increase is there for them."

The Attorney General's office encourages Floridians to continue calling with complaints. Anyone who suspects a local gas station of price-gouging is asked to call 1-866-966-7226.

As of 5 p.m. the attorney general's office reported 549 gasoline price gouging complaints.

The following six gas stations are under investigation by the attorney general's office:

Dodges
466 Patricia Avenue
Dunedin

Dodges
Fruitville at Beneva Road
Sarasota

Dodges
US 17 & US 92
Maitland

Dodges
12961 West Colonial
Orlando

Flying J
175 Exit 285
29933 SR 52
Dade City

Flying J
I4 at SR 579 Exit 10
11555 East Sligh Avenue
Seffner

Pilot
2020 SW Hwy 484
Ocala

Be in the Know with Bay News 9 Now!

Get news, weather, and traffic alerts delivered directly to your computer desktop, e-mail, or cell phone with Bay News 9 Now.

Subscribe for free!

The Holidays On Bay News 9

thanksgiving travel From Holiday lights to mall hours to military greetings and more, Bay News 9 has you covered. Go to our Holiday page for more information.