By JOSEPH KELLARD
According to 4th Precinct detectives, the men entered the gas station, at 2755 Long Beach Road, at 8:50 p.m. June 21, and one of them struck the attendant in the forehead with a gun and punched him in the back and side.
"They hit him in the head with the butt of the gun and knocked him down, and he screamed, ŒPlease don't hit me, I'm 68 years old. Just take the money and go,¹" said a fellow attendant who gave only his first name, Tabbi.
The men went through the victim's pockets and removed between $300 and $400, and took another $300 from the cash register, Tabbi estimated.
The subjects fled north on foot to Castleton Court, where a third subject was waiting for them in a car. Tabbi said that a security guard who periodically checks on the adjacent Foodtown and Oceanside Theater properties was driving by at the time of the incident and noticed another man in an unidentifiable car on the side street.
The attendant, who suffered a contusion to the head, was transported to South Nassau Communities Hospital for treatment and later released.
The suspects are described as two black males in their 20s, 5 feet 6 to 5 feet 8, and were wearing dark sweatshirts.
Tabbi said that there have been many robberies at the gas station over the several years he has worked there, but that this was the first incident he could recall in which an attendant was assaulted. He said the last incident, about a month ago, involved two black males who asked an attendant to check their oil. As he did so, one of the men slipped his hand in the attendant's pocket, took his cash, and they fled the scene.
Detectives ask anyone with information about the latest robbery to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 244-TIPS. All callers will remain anonymous.
Comments about this story? JKellard@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 287.
