Investigators at the Florida Attorney General's Office said Sunday they are looking into more than three hundred reports of gasoline price-gouging statewide, most of them coming after Hurricane Ike struck the oil refinery-rich Texas Gulf coast.
Before noon on Sunday, the Attorney General's Office reported it had received 317 complaints of price gouging.
Attorney General Bill McCollum is scheduled to hold a press conference at 1 p.m. Sunday in Orlando to talk about the investigation.
On Saturday, fears that gas prices could skyrocket spurred South Florida motorists to fill their cars with gas, leaving some stations without fuel.
The complaints of price-gouging began trickling in Thursday night, but most calls flooded the attorney general's hot line Saturday - atotal of 261 complaints. ''We've had a busy day,'' said Sandi Copes, a spokeswoman for McCollum.
On Saturday, the highest report in the state of gouging was $5.50 for a gallon of regular unleaded, Copes said. Several motorists complained about South Florida stations, including Texacos in Miami and North Miami and a Marathon in Miami. One caller complained about $4.39-a-gallon at a Hialeah station, Copes said.
At an independently owned fuel station in Miami at 2522 NE Second Ave. the price Saturday was $4.87 for regular unleaded. Premium was $5.09. Most South Florida stations are selling gas for under $4 a gallon.
For more of this story:
http://www.bradenton.com/business/story/881945.htmlIf you see this going on in your area, You can go to the site below to report them.http://gaswatch.energy.gov/