HARRISON –
A local service station targeted by robbers earlier this year has been hit once again.
Police said they were called to the Delta gas station on the 500 block of Frank E. Rodgers Blvd S. near Essex St. at 12:42 a.m. last Wednesday, Oct. 12, on a report of an armed robbery.
The 20-year-old attendant told police he was sitting in a chair just outside the station office when he was approached by two men from Essex St. and FER Blvd.
One of the pair walked behind him and put him in a headlock, then both pulled him inside the office while one pointed a black handgun at him, police said.
The bandits then began punching him and demanding money and took his Samsung tablet valued at $200 along with $600 of the station’s cash from a box inside the garage, the attendant told police.
After taking the items, the attendant told police, the men fled on foot towards Railroad Ave. and Taft Place. He then lost sight of them.
Police said both suspects were described as black, about 6 feet, wearing dark-colored clothes, fingerless gloves and face masks covering their mouths.
Police broadcast that information to HPD units who canvassed the area but found no one matching the description given.
The attendant was treated by EMS for swelling to his face resulting from being roughed up by the bandits, police said.
About 15 minutes after the robbery, police said they were contacted by a man who told them he was traveling north on FER Blvd. from the PATH station when he observed a commotion at the Delta station and spotted two men running from the station get into a red SUV and drive north on FER Blvd. The witness provided police with the car’s New Jersey registration while noting that the SUV was last seen turning west onto Harrison Ave., heading towards Newark.
Police said a check of the registration came back to a 2000 red Ford Explorer whose owner was listed in state records.
Surrounding police departments were notified via SPEN with a description of the vehicle and suspects, police said.
Harrison Police Det. Lt. David Doyle said the Delta station has been victimized by robbers three times this year so far. “We don’t think this job is related to the other crew who robbed them previously,” he said, because it did not fit the modus operandi of the prior holdup men.
The most recent prior attack came at around 4:30 a.m. on Sunday, Sept. 4, when, according to police reports, three men emerged from what was described as a small red BMW SUV, hit the attendant on the head with a handgun and drove away with cash, cigarettes and cigars taken from the station.
– Ron Leir
