Police Investigate Gas Station Armed Robbery

By Andrew Gorosko

Police are investigating an armed robbery, which occurred on New Year’s Day at the Church Hill Gas Stop gas station at 47 Church Hill Road.

A lone unidentified male robber entered the gas station building at about 5:51 pm January 1 and displayed a box cutter, telling the male gas station attendant there to give him the money in the station’s cash register, police Detective Robert Koetsch said this week. A box cutter contains a razor blade.

The attendant then gave the robber “several hundred dollars” from the cash register, after which the robber fled on foot, heading eastward on Church Hill Road, Det Koetsch said.

There were no injuries. The crime committed was first degree robbery, which is a felony that involves the use of a deadly weapon.

Police described the robber as a white male, approximately six feet tall, who wore a bandana over his face pulled up to his eyes. The robber, who wore jeans, was between 20 and 35 years old, police said.

Det Koetsch said the incident may have lasted less than 30 seconds.

There were no witnesses to the robbery, he said, adding that there were no customers at the gas pumps when the crime occurred. The station was getting ready to close for business on the holiday, he said.

Police are pursuing multiple leads in their investigation and have some physical evidence, Det Koetsch said. Besides Det Koetsch, Detective Joe Joudy and Patrol Officer William Hull are investigating.

Police ask anyone with information about the Church Hill Gas Stop armed robbery to contact them, at 426-5841 or at 270-8888.

Robberies occur infrequently in town. The last local robbery also occurred at a gas station. In that case, three robbers made off with an unspecified amount of money from Newtown Shell Service at 67 Church Hill Road early on the morning of July 26, 2003, after one of the three assailants assaulted the male gas station attendant there with a baseball bat. No arrests have been made in that case.