Two armed bandits pulled guns at two Kearny fuel stations Sunday, but both times, the suspects got spooked and took off, walking away with no proceeds and fortunate, with no injuries to the petrol employees.
On March 26, 2023, at 5:52 p.m., Officer Mathew Lopez was dispatched to the Citgo gas station at 1 Belgrove Drive on a call of an armed robbery. It was reported to the officer two Black males had arrived at the gas pump in a gray Hyundai Elantra.
The driver handed the gas attendant a credit card and requested he fill the tank. Before the attendant could dispense fuel, the backseat passenger pointed a handgun at the attendant. The attendant ran for cover and the Hyundai sped off without obtaining any robbery proceeds. Officers later learned the credit card used by the driver was stolen from a woman in Elizabeth about a half hour earlier.
Four minutes after this report was received, Officer Nick Funk was flagged down by the gas attendant at the Jersey Oil gas station at 926 Passaic Ave. Officer Funk learned a gray sedan occupied by two Black males had pulled up to the gas pump and when the attendant approached the passenger window the passenger displayed a handgun and demanded money.
The attendant ran behind the sedan, which then sped off and crossed the Rutgers Street Bridge into Belleville without the suspects asporting any proceeds of the robbery.
The Hyundai Elantra Sedan was later recovered abandoned in the Weequahic section of Newark. The car had been reported stolen to Newark police earlier that day.
These cases are being investigated by Det. Anthony Nunez. Persons with information pertinent to the investigation are asked to contact Det. Nunez at (201) 998-1313, ext. 2821 or at tips@kearnynjpd.org.
Reference case numbers 23-13136 and 23-13140.
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Capt. Timothy Wagner | Kearny Police Department
Capt. Timothy Wagner is the Kearny Police Department's public-information officer and the commander of the department's Internal Affairs Unit. He contributes the KPD Blotter weekly and writes it completely.