A robber lit a piece of paper on fire and dropped it on a candy rack inside a Shell station on New York Avenue Northeast early Saturday, using the flames as a distraction before pushing past a worker and stealing more than $800 from a locked room, according to D.C. police.
The robbery happened around 1:06 a.m. at the station at 1765 New York Avenue NE, according to D.C. police cited by WJLA. Investigators say the person entered the business, set the fire, and placed the burning paper on the candy rack as the worker's attention turned to the flames.
Worker Opened Secured Room to Fight the Fire
The employee opened the secured register room to try to put out the flames, the station's report notes. That is when the robber allegedly pushed the worker aside, grabbed cash from inside the secured room and fled the scene before officers arrived.
The amount taken was described only as more than $800, per the same account. No further details on the robber's description or any arrest have been released in connection with the incident.
A Separate Robbery Weeks Earlier
The New York Avenue case comes about six weeks after a different robbery at a Shell gas station store in Northeast Washington. That incident happened around 9:35 a.m. on September 13 in the 900 block of Brentwood Road NE, according to FOX 5 DC.
In that case, police said a suspect approached a victim inside the store, assaulted them, stole their property and fled. Surveillance footage reviewed by FOX 5 DC showed the suspect dressed in all black, including a tank top and jogging pants, along with a Nike beanie and red-and-black sneakers. Police offered a reward of up to $1,000 for information leading to an arrest and indictment in that case.
MPD's Standing Warning for Gas Station Customers
The Metropolitan Police Department has separately flagged gas stations as a recurring target for thieves, warning that purses and other valuables left visible or easily accessible in a car can draw attention while drivers are pumping gas or paying inside, according to the Metropolitan Police Department. It is not clear whether that guidance relates to either of the two recent Northeast D.C. robberies.
No information has been released indicating whether the two incidents are connected, and the available police data does not establish a broader pattern of gas-station robberies across the city. The District of Columbia has a crime-incidents dataset, according to Data.gov.
