Drivers filling up their tanks at a New Jersey gas station say their cars are getting damaged and they suspect it has to do with what's being pumped out of the gas lines.
Police in Hopatcong say 10 drivers have reported problems after filling up at the Enrite gas station. Drivers continued to pull up all evening Wednesday to tell NBC 4 New York how their cars have broken down after they filled up there.
Marlene Caprio said her car had to be towed from Bergen County after it was damaged extensively. Leah Keyes said her brand-new car "totally died."
Mechanic Andrew Muns recounted another customer's experience: "It wouldn't start. She said, 'I went to hit the gas and it was bucking and kept stalling and shutting off.'"
The drivers said their mechanics told them their gas tanks were loaded with water.
A sample of the gas that Keyes got after she brought her car in to the mechanic and shown to NBC 4 New York revealed a visible separation between water and gas, making it apparent the gasoline was watered down.
In fact, mechanics found more than half the fuel in the tanks was water. Some drivers said they had damage ranging from $600 to $800.
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Muns said water in the gas tank "can rust all your fuel lines out, it can cause permanent damage to the engine, bent valves."
Keyes doesn't know how the water got into the gasoline.
"I don't know if it's a matter of, did they get a bad delivery form their supplier," she said. "I would like to think that it's an accident."
Police say they're not investigating the incidents as a crime. An employee at the gas station Wednesday said the owner was out of the shop and would return Thursday.
But police say the owner told them that he has no idea how the water got in the tanks and that any drivers with vehicle damage should contact him. He's already paid Marlene Caprio for her $800 repair.
"He did stand by his word, and I respect that," said Caprio.
