Man charged with slamming car into Long Island gas station, robbing business
BAY SHORE, Long Island (WABC) -- A man was arrested after police say he intentionally slammed a car into a Long Island gas station before robbing the business.
Police said 42-year-old Robert Persad, of Bay Shore, was arrested Wednesday night in Deer Park and faces burglary and criminal mischief charges.
Persad was accused of slamming his car into the storefront of Sunoco Gas Station Food Mart in Bay Shore around 3:20 a.m. earlier that day.
Eyewitness News obtained exclusive surveillance video that shows him driving his car head-first into the store. He then spends two minutes reversing and driving forward, trying to get the car out of the store.
Once the car was free from the glass front door, the man drives the car around the pumps and then parks in front of the door. He exits the vehicle and goes inside the store, taking cash from the register and cigarettes from behind the counter. The suspect then returns to his car and drives off.
"This is crazy," said Riaz Kahn, a friend of the owner of the gas station, who spoke exclusively with Eyewitness News. "This guy doesn't look like he's a robber."
Persad was scheduled to be arraigned Thursday morning.
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