by Mike Schnitzel
Mahey and her husband recently bought New York Petroleum on West Merrick Road in Valley Stream. Since then they have been busy trying to protect themselves and their business from the thieves who have targeted it.
"[These robberies] have happened very close to each other, so we were scared as to what to do," said Mahey.
The first incident happened on Feb. 12 at 3:40 a.m., when two men entered the gas station, one of them armed with a handgun, according to police. One of the men punched the 65-year-old attendant, a resident of Richmond Hill, in the face while the second held a gun to his head. Police said that the victim was forced to open the cash register and turn over the money inside. Police said the robbers fled in a black minivan.
According to Mahey, the robbers took $500 in cash and two cartons of cigarettes. She said the attendant later told her he had seen the men in the store frequently.
The second incident occurred the next night, when a man had his gas tank filled and drove off without paying. Mahey said that her husband filled the man's tank with $42 worth of gasoline but before he could collect the money, the man left. "He didn't call police because the car was already gone," said Mahey. "There was nothing that could be done."
The most recent incident happened Feb. 15. At about 10:50 p.m., according to police, a man robbed a gas attendant at gunpoint. The attendant, who is known as Harry, according to Mahey, was robbed of the money he had collected from pumping gas along with his wallet. "I was standing inside at the cash register, and he came inside and looked at me," said Mahey. "He told me to call police because he had been robbed."
Mahey said that Harry was washing the rear windshield of the customer's car as gas was being pumped, and was about to wash the front when he was told not to bother by the customer. "[The customer] asked how much he owed, and when he was told $33 he demanded that Harry give him all his money," said Mahey.
According to Mahey, Harry saw a handgun in the customer's right hand and handed over $250 in cash in addition to $40 from his wallet. Police said the subject then fled eastbound on West Merrick Road. According to a description given to police, the subject is a black male between 30 and 35 who was wearing a dark blue jacket and a shirt with a white collar. Mahey said that Harry couldn't make out the license plate number because it was partially concealed, but he did say the car had out-of-state plates.
Mahey said that as a result of the incidents, she and her husband decided they had to do more to protect their business. "We've already put in two surveillance cameras and gotten ADT [alarm security]," she said. "We had to do something."
This is not the first time that New York Petroleum has been plagued by robberies. On Feb. 12, 2005, a 31-year-old attendant at the gas station was shot in the torso by two perpetrators who fled on foot with $3,000. The victim was treated at South Nassau Communities Hospital. An attempted robbery was reported on Jan. 2 at the station, and previous robberies were reported there on Dec. 13, 2002, Nov. 26, 2003, and Oct. 4 and Nov. 13, 2004.
Comments about this story? MSchnit-zel@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 265.
