Cops Hunt For Thief Who Swiped $90K From White Plains Gas Station

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- A seemingly mild-mannered, well-dressed man is wanted by police for allegedly stealing $90,000 in cash from a White Plains gas station.

As CBS2's Lou Young reported, the man was apparently waiting last Wednesday morning at the USA Service Pro Auto Shop on Mamaroneck Avenue for a moment to spring behind the counter to an unlocked, unattended safe with what the owner says had $90,000 inside.

He never even laid eyes on the thief until he watched the store's security video.

"I couldn't believe my eyes," the victim, Gene Mjeshtri, said. "I keep going back to the safe and checking if I'm right or not. ... To me, it is an inside job somehow. He had knowledge for everything."

A cynic might question the amount of cash being declared in the robbery. But the part of the video police are not sharing with CBS2 shows the thief taking large stacks of cash out of the safe and stuffing them in his shirt, authorities said. Police say, by any measure, it was a substantial haul.

"There's people all around, so it's very brazen,  No. 1, for what he did," said David Chong, White Plains public safety commissioner. "But there's a little bit of carelessness there, too. Who leaves a safe open?"

The thief is described as a black man in his late 40s or 50s, with an average build and wearing glasses, a dark ascot hat, white collared shirt, tie, gray V-neck sweater, black coat, dark slacks and dark shoes.

The missing cash has the station's owner asking his suppliers for credit. The loss amounts to the cost of six loads of gas plus payroll and car parts. Only a fraction of it is insured.

"I don't know what to say. I feel very bad for them," customer Anne Bretones said.

Mjeshtri said he has learned his lesson the hard way.