BATON ROUGE - It's been about two and a half weeks since Emmanuel Thomas says he got gas at City Town Meat Store on Greenwell Springs Road. He made it about 5 miles down the road until his engine died.

Thomas ultimately had to bring his car to an automotive mechanic shop right before Christmas. They couldn't diagnose the problem so Thomas brought his car to another mechanic who took a sample from his gas tank which showed his gas was mixed with water.

We asked the Commissioner of Agriculture and Forestry, Mike Strain, about this and his office said they received a similar complaint and tested the gas as well. The test confirmed the presence of water contamination.

"This has to be an ongoing problem because the test that was pulled from my vehicle has over three quarters of water," said Thomas.

Investigators believe the water most likely seeped into the underground fuel storage tank.

Thomas received a bill for about $900 to fix the damages to his car. Thomas had to wait two weeks before contacting the owner because he was waiting on testing results and dealing with the mechanics.

The owner says he will not reimburse Thomas because he took too long to bring the problem to his attention.

"If he just pays for the bill and takes care of the matter then I'll be happy," Thomas said.

Shortly before we aired, Thomas received a call from an employee at the gas station stating they will not reimburse Thomas if we aired the story. We also heard from management saying they would work with Mr. Thomas but were very vague when asked if they'd pay him back in full.