Armed Robbers Target Long Island Gas Stations

Gas stations on Long Island are on alert as police investigate a string of armed robberies in Suffolk.

The latest one happened Thursday night in Sayville, where surveillance video obtained exclusively by NBC 4 New York shows a man in black waving a handgun inside the station and then ordering the attendant to fill a bag with cash. 

Owner Mohammed Butt said investigators told him they've seen the gunman before.

"They're the ones who told me it's the same guy who's doing it everywhere," he said.

Police would not confirm the man in the video is the same one who's been robbing other gas stations in Suffolk, but about 40 minutes after the gunman ran from the Sayville gas station, a station in Selden about a mile and a half away was also robbed.

Surveillance video from there shows two thieves also dressed in black. 

Suffolk police have yet to say if Thursday night's robberies are connected, but gas station owners confirm a string of robberies since late November.

"The vulnerability is out there because most places are open," said Michael Watt, a gas retailers spokesman who's met with Suffolk's district attorney. 

"It really doesn't make sense to rob a gas station anymore," he said. "Most customers pay by credit cards." 

The Long Island Gas Retailers Association has alerted its 500 members about the robberies, urging them to upgrade surveillance camera systems and reduce the cash attendants carry on the job.

"I hope they catch him soon before he hurts somebody," said Butt. 

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