. . . and the Eloi bleat in terror.
http://www.injersey.com/news/c-n/story/0,2111,288337,00.html
Hillsboro gas station hit by armed bandits
By TONY SCLAFANI, Staff Writer
HILLSBOROUGH -- Two men, one of them armed with a gun, robbed an Amoco station on Route 206 on Wednesday, two weeks after a Bernards gas station employee was shot to death.
A white man and a Hispanic man walked into the Amoco station office about 2:30 p.m. and demanded money from the attendant, Somerset County Prosecutor Wayne J. Forrest said. The robber who killed the Bernards attendant was black.
After the white man brandished a gun, the attendant handed over the money, and the robbers walked north into the Domino`s Pizza parking lot, Forrest said.
But the attendant, who began calling police from inside, did not see if the robbers drove off in a car or kept walking away, Forrest said. The amount of money taken has not yet been determined.
"It appears to be a few hundred dollars at this point," he said. No one was injured in the robbery.
The other attendant, Arturo V. Perez, 27, was pumping gas for customers and didn`t realize the two men were robbing the office only steps away.
"I thought they wanted cigarettes," he said, shoving a hose into a car`s gas tank. "I`m new here."
Perez started his new job about two weeks ago at the station just south of New Amwell Road.
"He said, `They took the money, man, they took the money,`" Perez said about his fellow employee, who came out of the office after the robbery.
Sukhdev Singh, a regular customer for the past 17 years, was shocked when he drove up to the pumps and heard about the robbery.
Singh said he is reconsidering returning to the station because the robber used a gun.
"It is very, very scary," he said, sitting in his mini-van. "It makes one think twice now. I don`t know what to do."
Singh said he was upset the robbery occurred in his own neighborhood at his favorite gas station. He said he intends on telling his wife to stop buying gas there early in the mornings.
"It`s very, very strange for Hillsborough," he said. "When you live in this town for so long, it hurts. I don`t know what this world is coming to."
Singh said he doesn`t remember robbers ever using a weapon to steal money from the station.
"I`ve heard of a couple of snatchings with money at night time, but with a gun, it`s the first time," he said.
Brian Lancsak of New Amwell Road, who visited the station to buy a pack of cigarettes, said the robbery will not scare him into changing his schedule.
"They`re trying to hit somewhere they think is going to have money," said Lancsak, sitting next to his girlfriend in the driver`s seat. "I`m still going to come here. It`s not going to break my routine of cigarettes and gas."
Although Lancsak believed thieves will not target customers in the future, he said he was astounded the two men pulled out a gun in the afternoon with a steady stream of motorists driving along Route 206.
"It`s still a shock they used a gun in the daylight," he said, taking a drag from his cigarette. "That`s a little out there."
But Mitchell Soffer of Belle Mead wasn`t surprised when he heard of the robbery while waiting for his gas tank to be filled.
"With the price of gas now, these guys have a whole lot of money. They`re a target," he said, citing the June 29 fatal robbery at the King George Exxon in Bernards. "I would expect it to happen. It doesn`t matter where you live."
In the Bernards robbery, an Exxon gas station employee, Joseph H. Sass, 31, of Harmony Township was shot and killed while giving directions to a woman and her daughter at 9:20 p.m. The killer, who has not been captured, drove off with $100 to $200. A getaway driver is suspected of playing a part in the robbery.
Forrest said investigators from both the prosecutor`s office and the township`s police department hope to have composite sketches of both men in the Amoco station robbery after interviewing more witnesses today.
Dennis Tyburski, senior manager at the Goodyear station behind Amoco, said he saw two men with similar descriptions walking toward the gas station`s office about the time of the robbery, but wasn`t aware of the crime until police informed him.
"I just saw the back of them," he said, gesturing toward the office`s front window. "I really didn`t see anything. It was when (police) told me that I remembered."
Copyright 1997-2000 IN Jersey.
http://www.injersey.com/news/c-n/story/0,2111,288337,00.html
Hillsboro gas station hit by armed bandits
By TONY SCLAFANI, Staff Writer
HILLSBOROUGH -- Two men, one of them armed with a gun, robbed an Amoco station on Route 206 on Wednesday, two weeks after a Bernards gas station employee was shot to death.
A white man and a Hispanic man walked into the Amoco station office about 2:30 p.m. and demanded money from the attendant, Somerset County Prosecutor Wayne J. Forrest said. The robber who killed the Bernards attendant was black.
After the white man brandished a gun, the attendant handed over the money, and the robbers walked north into the Domino`s Pizza parking lot, Forrest said.
But the attendant, who began calling police from inside, did not see if the robbers drove off in a car or kept walking away, Forrest said. The amount of money taken has not yet been determined.
"It appears to be a few hundred dollars at this point," he said. No one was injured in the robbery.
The other attendant, Arturo V. Perez, 27, was pumping gas for customers and didn`t realize the two men were robbing the office only steps away.
"I thought they wanted cigarettes," he said, shoving a hose into a car`s gas tank. "I`m new here."
Perez started his new job about two weeks ago at the station just south of New Amwell Road.
"He said, `They took the money, man, they took the money,`" Perez said about his fellow employee, who came out of the office after the robbery.
Sukhdev Singh, a regular customer for the past 17 years, was shocked when he drove up to the pumps and heard about the robbery.
Singh said he is reconsidering returning to the station because the robber used a gun.
"It is very, very scary," he said, sitting in his mini-van. "It makes one think twice now. I don`t know what to do."
Singh said he was upset the robbery occurred in his own neighborhood at his favorite gas station. He said he intends on telling his wife to stop buying gas there early in the mornings.
"It`s very, very strange for Hillsborough," he said. "When you live in this town for so long, it hurts. I don`t know what this world is coming to."
Singh said he doesn`t remember robbers ever using a weapon to steal money from the station.
"I`ve heard of a couple of snatchings with money at night time, but with a gun, it`s the first time," he said.
Brian Lancsak of New Amwell Road, who visited the station to buy a pack of cigarettes, said the robbery will not scare him into changing his schedule.
"They`re trying to hit somewhere they think is going to have money," said Lancsak, sitting next to his girlfriend in the driver`s seat. "I`m still going to come here. It`s not going to break my routine of cigarettes and gas."
Although Lancsak believed thieves will not target customers in the future, he said he was astounded the two men pulled out a gun in the afternoon with a steady stream of motorists driving along Route 206.
"It`s still a shock they used a gun in the daylight," he said, taking a drag from his cigarette. "That`s a little out there."
But Mitchell Soffer of Belle Mead wasn`t surprised when he heard of the robbery while waiting for his gas tank to be filled.
"With the price of gas now, these guys have a whole lot of money. They`re a target," he said, citing the June 29 fatal robbery at the King George Exxon in Bernards. "I would expect it to happen. It doesn`t matter where you live."
In the Bernards robbery, an Exxon gas station employee, Joseph H. Sass, 31, of Harmony Township was shot and killed while giving directions to a woman and her daughter at 9:20 p.m. The killer, who has not been captured, drove off with $100 to $200. A getaway driver is suspected of playing a part in the robbery.
Forrest said investigators from both the prosecutor`s office and the township`s police department hope to have composite sketches of both men in the Amoco station robbery after interviewing more witnesses today.
Dennis Tyburski, senior manager at the Goodyear station behind Amoco, said he saw two men with similar descriptions walking toward the gas station`s office about the time of the robbery, but wasn`t aware of the crime until police informed him.
"I just saw the back of them," he said, gesturing toward the office`s front window. "I really didn`t see anything. It was when (police) told me that I remembered."
Copyright 1997-2000 IN Jersey.