Two men in their 20s, one wearing a ski mask, robbed a north
Gilroy gas station at gunpoint Monday evening, police said. Watch
video footage of the robbery with this story.
Two men in their 20s, one wearing a ski mask, robbed a north Gilroy gas station at gunpoint Monday evening, police said.
Just after 7 p.m., a man with a goatee wearing a black beanie and a black sweatshirt walked into Bozzo’s Union 76 gas station, 401 First St., and acted as if he were going to purchase what appeared to be a candy bar, according to surveillance footage and police. As the man set the item on the counter, another man wearing a dark hoodie pulled over his head entered the gas station and pointed a revolver at the clerk. The second man’s face was not captured on tape and police said he was wearing a ski mask.
The men demanded money from the clerk, who handed over an unspecified amount of cash, police said. The man in the beanie reached over the counter to take the handful of cash, grabbed the item he had initially set on the counter, and both men left after ordering the clerk into a back room. The robbery lasted less than a minute.
After several minutes, the clerk came out of the back room and called police, police said.
Neither the clerk nor the robbers were injured in the incident, and no shots were fired, police said. No other customers were inside the business at the time of the robbery. The clerk was shaken up, Detective Stan Devlin said. The business had never been robbed before, Devlin said.
The men were described as Hispanic males between 20 and 30 years old, police said. Devlin said he hopes the surveillance tape will help identify the men. Police were working to circulate the tape and a description of the two men.
“If they’re from our town, I’d be surprised if no one recognizes them,” Devlin said.
Police are investigating the incident as possibly related to Saturday night’s armed robbery of Budget Liquors in north Gilroy, police said. In that incident, two men entered the store, demanded cash, and tried to shoot the clerk in the leg with a revolver, but the gun misfired. They then ran out to the parking lot, where a man in a car was waiting for them. The similarity of the two crimes suggest a link, Devlin said.
Anyone with information regarding these robberies can contact the Gilroy Police Department Investigations Bureau at 846-0335.
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