Gas station attendant disarms assailant

A gas station attendant in Elmont showed an iron will with a gutsy display of bravado last week, as he swiped a 12-gauge shotgun out of the hands of a would-be robber trying to steal cash from his register.

At 11:52 p.m. last Wednesday, Oct. 21, two black men, both dressed in black long sleeve shirts, Yankee hats and bandanas, marched into the USA Gas Station at 292 Meacham Ave. in Elmont, according to police. Just as quickly as they entered, one of the men jabbed a shotgun right at the neck of 47-year-old Mustapha Yakupoglu, who was the only employee on duty at the time.

In video circulating across the internet, the two men poked at Yakupoglu, who quickly turned the shotgun away from his body with his elbow, and forced the gun out of the hands of his assailant. He then swung the shotgun over the counter, while taking a left-handed swipe at his attacker, knocking over display items and cigarette lighters and sending them flying.

With the shotgun still in hand, Yakupoglu ran out from behind his counter to defend his store, but by the time he got moving, both men — one of whom had fallen backwards over an ice cream refrigerator, had turned tail and run from the store. After almost absorbing a wild swing from the butt-end of their own gun, them men ran out of the store on foot on Scimitar Avenue.

In the video of the incident, Yakupoglu can be heard screaming at his assailants, shouting at them to “get out.”

“Get out, I’ll call the cops,” he said. “Get out now!”

Yakupoglu can be seen in the video calling police on his cell phone. Officers responded to the gas station moments later. There were no injuries in connection to the incident, and no arrests have been made in the case.

Overall, commercial robberies in the 5th Precinct, like the one that nearly took place at USA Gas last Wednesday, saw a huge increase in the last month over the same period last year. Between Sept. 16 and Oct. 13 of last year, there was only one commercial robbery in the precinct. This year, there have been seven. Throughout the year, however, robberies are down by more than eight percent, according to police department statistics.

Police are seeking two black men, one about 5-feet-7-inches tall. Both were wearing dark shirts with bandanas and New York Yankees hats to disguise their faces. Anyone with any information about the incident is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-244-TIPS (8477).