Rhino
04-14-2008, 11:35 AM
Accidental 35-cent gas drives throngs to station, jams roads
By Tyra Vaughn
Staff Writer
Published: Friday, April 11, 2008 at 6:01 a.m.
Last Modified: Friday, April 11, 2008 at 7:27 a.m.
Deshauna Canty is never in a good mood after filling up her Lincoln Navigator.
But she was all smiles today when she swiped her Visa credit card to pay after gassing up her sport utility vehicle.
Why wouldn’t she be? Gas was 35 cents a gallon.
Canty was among hundreds of people who found temporary relief from $3-plus gasoline prices today after an employee accidentally set the price at 35 cents at the Kangaroo Express station at 17th Street and Wellington Avenue, employees said.
The trouble started about 9 a.m. today when an attendant at the BP station punched in 35 cents instead of $3.35 for premium-grade gasoline, said employee Shane Weller. The mistake wasn’t noticed until about 6 p.m., when crowds jammed the pumps and caused traffic jams on nearby roads, Weller said.
By that time news of the low-priced gas had spread like wildfire through e-mail and word of mouth, he said.
Canty heard about the price from her children’s baby-sitter and filled up her Ford Taurus earlier in the afternoon, she said.
“I wasn’t sure if it was true, but I decided to come out here and check it out,” Canty said. “I didn’t have anything to lose and everything to gain.”...http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20080411/ARTICLE/669960132/0/FRONTPAGE
By Tyra Vaughn
Staff Writer
Published: Friday, April 11, 2008 at 6:01 a.m.
Last Modified: Friday, April 11, 2008 at 7:27 a.m.
Deshauna Canty is never in a good mood after filling up her Lincoln Navigator.
But she was all smiles today when she swiped her Visa credit card to pay after gassing up her sport utility vehicle.
Why wouldn’t she be? Gas was 35 cents a gallon.
Canty was among hundreds of people who found temporary relief from $3-plus gasoline prices today after an employee accidentally set the price at 35 cents at the Kangaroo Express station at 17th Street and Wellington Avenue, employees said.
The trouble started about 9 a.m. today when an attendant at the BP station punched in 35 cents instead of $3.35 for premium-grade gasoline, said employee Shane Weller. The mistake wasn’t noticed until about 6 p.m., when crowds jammed the pumps and caused traffic jams on nearby roads, Weller said.
By that time news of the low-priced gas had spread like wildfire through e-mail and word of mouth, he said.
Canty heard about the price from her children’s baby-sitter and filled up her Ford Taurus earlier in the afternoon, she said.
“I wasn’t sure if it was true, but I decided to come out here and check it out,” Canty said. “I didn’t have anything to lose and everything to gain.”...http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20080411/ARTICLE/669960132/0/FRONTPAGE