Police: Hicksville Gas Station Heist Matches Pattern Of Other Armed Robberies

HICKSVILLE, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- An armed robber made off with an unspecified amount of cash from a Hicksville gas station Sunday night, Nassau County police said.

Police said the pattern is the same as nearly a dozen other service station robberies since December, including one in January in which a clerk was shot and killed in Jericho, WCBS 880 Long Island Bureau Chief Mike Xirinachs reported.

Surveillance video from Sunday shows a lone gunman demanding and receiving cash at the Apple Green gas station on Newbridge Road before fleeing on foot. No one was injured.

The suspect is described as a black man, about 6 feet tall with a slim build. He was wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt, navy blue sweatpants with a white stripe on the legs and a black bandana covering his face.

"Our biggest worry is that this individual is extremely dangerous," said Thomas Krumpter, Nassau County's acting police commissioner. "He's already demonstrated that when he killed somebody during an attempted robbery."

Police are asking anyone with information about the suspect to call Crime Stoppers at 800-244-TIPS. All callers are kept confidential.

Earlier this month, Nassau officials announced they were offering a reward of up to $35,000 -- $25,000 for the murder and $10,000 for the string of robberies.

The suspect killed Hany Awad, 56, at a BP gas station on Jericho Turnpike on Jan. 28, police said. Awad was shot in the torso and pronounced dead at the scene.

The suspect also held up gas stations and a 7-Eleven store between Dec. 20 and Feb. 8 in Westbury, Hicksville and Jericho. He robbed at least three businesses twice, police said.

Krumpter said catching the serial robber is the department's top priority.

"We have persons of interest that we continue to look at," he said, adding any workers who are confronted by the robber should comply with his demands.