Local gas station accused of having water in fuel pumps

OSCEOLA, Ind. --- All of us love drinking water every single day, but one thing we don’t love seeing it mixed into our fuel tanks. That's what some customers found after taking a trip to Smith’s in Osceola after filling up their tank last Friday.

“A couple miles down the road it started to spit and sputter. Barely made it home. As soon as I parked it died," said Gary Winthorpe who's car broke down after filling up his tank.

Frustrated Winthrope decided to start working on the car himself hoping to find a cause for the failed engine.

He later found a mixture of water and gas, but he wasn’t the only customer reporting engine issues.

“It was acting like it wasn’t getting fuel when we tried starting it and he said I just filled up at smith’s on the way down here. That’s when I woke up in the morning and saw those posts and put it together," said Brad Trosper who's son filled up at Smith's.

Trosper's son only made it a few blocks away before having to call for a tow. They decided to take it to a mechanic, but haven’t received a quote for the repairs just yet.

“It’ll be about a week with water in the fuel system which isn’t good. The whole fuel system could be compromised by it so I just could be a lot of money," said Trosper.

Winthorpe reached out to Philipps 66 to see if they would help cover the cost of repairs, but was told he needed to contact the station owners directly.

“If I have to make any payments towards fixing things I just hope they would reimburse me," said Winthorpe.

We reached out to management here at smith’s but have not heard back yet, they did however tell some affected customers to leave their contact information and they would work with their insurance to help cover any costs.