Nassau police investigating 12 gas station robberies since December, records show

Nassau police are investigating 12 armed robberies of gas stations and a convenience store since December -- including three they suspect were each hit twice by the same assailant, according to documents.

A separate investigation into the Jan. 28 shooting death of an attendant at a Jericho station is continuing. Police have not definitively concluded it occurred during a robbery, but have said it was a possibility.

One owner whose Westbury Mobil station was held up twice said police have "stopped in a lot" since the robberies.

Station owner Danny Persuad said that after the robberies, he increased safety measures, which caused a drop-off in customers.

"It's hurting me, business-wise," Persuad said of the measures, which include locked station doors at night and only allowing purchases through a window. "People want to come in . . . but at the same time, my guys' safety is most important."

No arrests have been made in the robberies or the killing of attendant Hany Awad. In each robbery, attendants have told police a single assailant showed a handgun and demanded money.

Gas stations in Bellerose Terrace, Jericho, New Hyde Park, Thomaston and Westbury have been held up starting Dec. 9 through Sunday, as well as a Hicksville 7-Eleven store, according to authorities.

One assailant is suspected in at least eight of those robberies, including the two at Persuad's station on Old Country Road, two more at a Westbury Citgo station on Union Avenue, and two at a Hicksville 7-Eleven on West John Street, police said.

Two more recent gas stations robberies are also part of the investigation -- one Friday night at a Hess station on Jericho Turnpike in Westbury and another Sunday at a Shell station on Jericho Turnpike in Jericho, police have said.

In a separate investigation, police have linked two Jan. 26 holdups that occurred 35 minutes apart at BP stations to a single assailant who fired a gun in both robberies, according to Crime Stoppers.

No one was injured.

The Sunday morning robbery, in which the thief took an "undetermined amount" of cash from the Shell station, mirrors the Friday night Hess station holdup but police have yet to link them.

Amin Islam, 31, an employee at the Westbury Mobil station owned by Persuad, said he wasn't working during the robberies but said "if they come, I'll just give them whatever they want."

By Nicole Fuller

nicole.fuller@newsday.com@NicoleFuller

Nicole Fuller is Newsday's senior criminal justice reporter. She began working at Newsday in 2012 and previously covered local government.