Arkansas Headlines
(2008-09-16)
McDaniel announced the subpoenas Tuesday, saying more than 1,450 people phoned the office with complaints and more than 2,400 people either e-mailed or sent text messages.
The companies will have 20 days to respond to the subpoenas.
McDaniel says that if he finds evidence of price gouging, he will demand that the companies make restitution and pay penalties. He says he'll sue any company that does not comply.
Some retailers bumped gasoline prices to $4.50 per gallon or more as Ike took aim on the Gulf Coast.
McDaniel said the subpoenas will go out to gas stations owned by about 10 businesses around the state. He said the subpoenas seek information on what prices were leading up to the hurricane, how much the businesses paid for gas, and who authorized the price increases. Fuel companies commonly own a number of gas stations.
McDaniel said the highest price that his office logged in the state was $4.64 a gallon at a station in Osceola. McDaniel said that some of the price increases could lead to action under the state's Deceptive Practices Act rather than the price gouging law.
"Gouging is a term of art but there is no question in my mind there were some very unfair pricing practices. There were gas lines forming and people panicking because of people taking advantage of a circumstance that, mercifully, wasn't as bad as could have been," McDaniel said.
McDaniel said at least two subpoenas had been issued on Monday for gas stations in the Jonesboro area. McDaniel, who is from Jonesboro, said he had taken pictures with his own mobile phone of signs there showing high gas prices.
McDaniel said his office is still reviewing the complaints it received over the weekend and said he did not know if more subpoenas would be on the way.
2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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