NY Men Snagged After Allegedly Selling Gas For $8 a Gallon

Mahwah Police alerted the N.J. Division of Consumer Affairs to investigate two men who were allegedly trying to sell gasoline in Mahwah for $8 per gallon Saturday night, police said.

According to police, a driver waiting in line at the Pilot gas station on Route 17 South reported to police that two N.Y. men were trying to sell the gas from a pick-up truck parked in the next-door Comfort Suites Hotel parking lot.

Richard Rothe, 41, of Saugerties and Andrew Eberhardt, 22, of West Shokan were charged with violating a township ordinance for solicitation without a permit after MPD officers found the men with “a large unsecured fuel tank containing an estimated 200 gallons of gasoline,” Lt. Jeffrey Dino said Sunday morning.

Rothe was also charged with several traffic violations, Dino said. The pick-up truck was impounded, police said.

Further charges against the two are possible, police said, as the Bergen County Police Department Commercial Vehicle Inspection Team will inspect the men’s pick-up truck, and the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs was called to investigate the claims of price gouging.

Mahwah Sergeant Robert Curtis and Officers Michael Jack and Daniel Stewart responded to and investigated this case.

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