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Suspect sought in three gas station robberies

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Reports suggest there is one suspect in all three incidents

An unknown suspect remains on the lam after three gas station and convenience store robberies on July 6, according to police reports. In each of the robberies, the lone suspect brandished a pistol and an accomplice waited in a getaway pickup truck. The reports indicate that, in each incident, the suspect wore the same clothing and fled in the same vehicle.

According to police records, the robberies took place at:

At around 9:07 pm, an unknown suspect committed armed robbery and two counts of aggravated assault at the Conoco gas station at 3302 W. Hwy. 66. A lone suspect pointed a black gun at two store clerks and “racked the slide” of the chamber, showing that he was ready to shoot, according to Gallup Police Officer Dominic Molina’s report. The suspect fled in a white truck, and the only distinguishing factor from the other two robberies was that the suspect had a white stripe on the sides of a pair of black shoes he was wearing.

At about 9:37 pm, a lone suspect entered the Gilbert Ortega gas station at 3306 E. Hwy. 66. As a store clerk was giving change to a customer after a sale, the suspect ran around the counter, pointed a gun at a clerk, and demanded money. The suspect fled through a west door, according to GPD Officer Angelo Cellicion’s report.

Around 10 pm, GPD Officer John Gonzales recorded that shots were fired at the Giant Shell at 3798 E. Hwy. 66. “As I was exiting the businesses, witnesses pointed out that there were shell casings on the floor close to the east entrance,” Gonzales wrote. “Witnesses also stated that the suspect had fired a small black pistol into the counter.”

According to Gonzales, a witness statement said the suspect entered through the west entrance of the business and demanded money from the female store clerks on duty. The suspect then jumped into a white or grey extended-cab Ford with tinted windows. The suspect, believed to be Native American or Hispanic, was about 6-feet-tall and wore a grey hoodie with a grey-and-white T-shirt. The suspect also had on shorts and sunglasses.

Jay Dominguez, who lives near the west-side Conoco, said he drove up to the station for some snacks and saw “a slew of police cars, so I figured it was a robbery.”

“I don’t know who’s doing it, but maybe more police protection is necessary,” he said. You have to check out the people already working there as well.”

The west-side Conoco has been robbed five times in the last 18 months. The Gilbert Ortega gas station has been broken into, with liquor, smoking pipes, and cigarettes stolen three times in 2016.

By Bernie Dotson
Sun Correspondent