RICHMOND HEIGHTS, Mo. — The plans of two local businessmen to provide free gas for hundreds of drivers have hit a roadblock. In a viral social media post, they advertised the event to happen this weekend in Richmond Heights, Missouri.
The City of St. Louis created its own post that said the event won’t happen.
"[The] post that we created had a combined of over 300,000 views … I knew
our impact was felt because the city responded,” financial literacy coach, David Williams, said as he referred to the heavy interest in the event.
He and fellow businessman Romon Long posted the video as an advertisement a month after they said they spoke with the owner of an auto shop connected to the BP gas station on Clayton Road and South Central Avenue in Richmond Heights.
"He was like, ‘Well if you all are coming in to fill your tanks, then that's fine,’" Long said.
“He was all for it,” Williams added.
So the two men decided to throw in $5,000 each to give away $10,000 in gas this weekend. In addition to hiring private security, they say they also went to Richmond Heights police with a request.
"I originally went there Monday to say, ‘Hey, we’re having this event if we can have some off-duty officers, that would be preferable to keep everything nice and safe and calm and collected,'” Long said.
“They said, ‘No. We can’t provide it,” Long said.
Then came posts on Twitter from the city that said, "You will not be able to get gas at the BP location free or otherwise this weekend ... that BP Station is closed the weekend of August 26 due to preplanned resealing and maintenance."
"It just became a big mess,” Williams said.
When 5 On Your Side went inside the gas station to ask for the manager, our crew was told one was not there.
"If contacted in advance, I would have shared my concerns over the size of the gas station and its ability to accommodate several hundred vehicles in a short amount of time. It's not really an accommodating spot for traffic control purposes,” Richmond Heights Police Chief Gerry Rohr told 5 On Your Side in an email.
"For us, all we could think about was who wouldn't want this money? It's free money … that didn't stop us ...it just rerouted us," Williams said.
The business partners said the giveaway will still happen on Saturday, but rather than in Richmond Heights, they plan to stop by several gas stations in North County and randomly pick up the tabs for customers.