New Jersey

Masked Robber Beats Gas Attendant With Wrench in New Jersey: Police

What to Know

  • A 68-year-old gas station attendant was violently robbed in Summit, New Jersey, police say
  • Surveillance video shows the assailant beating the attendant with a wrench and dragging him behind the gas station
  • The attendant's family says he's in too much pain to speak; residents of Summit are shocked

Police in New Jersey are searching for a masked robber who violently beat a gas station attendant with a wrench before dragging him outside and leaving him injured on the pavement. 

The robber’s face was hidden behind a bandana and hood when he came up behind the 68-year-old attendant at the Shell gas station on River Road in Summit on Sunday night.

Surveillance video shows him hit the man in the head with the wrench multiple times before dragging him outside across pavement and dumping him behind the gas station.  

"The gentleman as you saw in the video had his back turned, he didn't even see it coming," said Summit Police Capt. Steven Zagorski. "The suspect was just hitting him with the wrench, unprovoked." 

Police say the robber then stole $680 in cash from the register and took off down River Road. Multiple units from the Summit Police Department and the Union County Sheriff’s Department searched nearby areas but couldn’t locate him, authorities said. 

The gas station attendant was taken to Morristown Medical Center by Summit EMS. He suffered from a gash on his forehead and broken ribs. 

His family spoke to News 4 New York on Wednesday. They said he was in too much pain to speak, so much pain that he had to be readmitted to the hospital.

In Summit, where violent crime is not a regular sight, residents were shocked.

"Something like that would never happen here," Jamison Setoute said. "Shocking." 

"Terrible," said a resident named Jim. "Never seen that happen here before." 

Contact Us