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Gas Station Manager Who Accidentally Sold 69 Cent Gas Raises More Than $24K On GoFundMe

RANCHO CORDOVA (CBS13) -- A GoFundMe page for the Rancho Cordova gas station manager fired earlier this month for accidentally selling 69-cent gas has raised more than $24,000, much of which will allegedly go toward repaying his former boss.

According to the GoFundMe page, more than 1,000 people contributed to help John Szczecina, donating a total of $24,087 as of Monday morning. The page's initial goal was $20,000.

The organizer of the page says that least some of the money will be returned to the owners of the Shell gas station, which allegedly lost around $20,000 when Szczecina accidently sold premium gas at 69 cents a gallon on June 9. He had meant to price it at 6.99 a gallon, but misplaced the decimal.

Drivers quickly noticed the deal and lined up at the station. The price wasn't fixed for hours, costing the station owners thousands of dollars during a time when gas prices are at record highs.

After hearing Szczecina's story, many considered him a modern-day Robin Hood. Indeed, his story went viral, and people from all over the country donated to his GoFundMe page, generally giving between $5 and $100.

Darryl Surita was one of the customers who bought the 69-cent gas. He donated $160 to the GoFundMe campaign, telling CBS13 that he felt bad for Szczecina as the mistake cost him his job.

While Szczecina might have remade the money lost in his headline-making mistake, it's unclear if his former employer is willing to offer him his job back.

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