3 People Arrested In Connection To Long Island Gas Station Robbery

STEWART MANOR, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- Three people have been arrested for robbing a Long Island gas station on Saturday.

Stewart Manor police said in a statement that 32-year-old Jason Kroll, 27-year-old Heather McCormack, and 26-year-old Christopher Giardiello were taken into custody for the robbery at Nick's Express Auto at 600 Tulip Ave.

New video of the wild gas station robbery showed the suspects getting violent while kicking and threatening workers then trying to escape, CBS2's Ilana Gold reported.

Police said Kroll asked the gas attendant for assistance with his Jeep Cherokee when Giardiello entered the store. When the male attendant went back into the store, he found Giardiello armed with a knife and taking cash from the register.

During the struggle, Krol grabbed the attendant from behind and began to choke him as Giardiello fled the scene, police said.

"He almost stabbed me. If I didn't run back he was going to stab me," Nick Singh, the owner of the gas station, told CBS2. "I tried stopping him. His partner jumped on me and choked me from the back."

Surveillance video showed one of his accomplice's confront Singh and the attendant who tried to intervene. They get into a struggle that moves into the garage. That suspect loses his shirt while the workers try holding him down.

"He tried to hit me [with this pipe]. He tried to hit this window to escape. I tried to hold him back, he hit me," Singh said.

Singh said the suspect grabbed a hammer, broke the garage window, and ran off. But Singh and the attendant chased after him and dragged him back to the property to hold him down until police arrived.

Police located McCormack and Giardiello at Meacham Avenue and News Avenue in Elmont and placed them under arrest.

Police said the three suspects were also involved in a larceny that occurred on March 26 at OK Gas Station at 66 New Hyde Park Road in Franklin Square.

All three have been charged with first-degree robbery and two counts of fourth-degree grand larceny. Giardello has also been charged with possession of a dangerous weapon, while Krol was charged with obstruction of breathing.

"They have to be behind bars, it's dangerous," Singh said.

The suspects will be arraigned Sunday at First District Court in Hempstead.