Police: $22 Gas-And-Dash Turns Deadly When SUV Driver Runs Over, Kills Station Manager
BALDWIN, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) – A gas station worker was run over and killed Monday following a dispute over $22, and police are looking for the man who behind the wheel.
The incident happened shortly before 7:30 a.m. when a man was struck by a dark-colored SUV in front of the Pit Stop Gas Station on Grand Avenue in Baldwin, reports CBS2's Natalie Duddridge.
Witnesses say station manager Cemal Dagdeviren, 59, of Levittown, confronted the driver about not paying for his fuel after asking for a fill-up. Police say station employees were suspicious since the SUV has no plates and the driver was acting strangely.
Surveillance video shows the victim talking with the driver before moving in front of the SUV to prevent it from driving away.
The vehicle then appears to accelerate, and detectives say that's when the victim was run over. Dagdeviren was transported to South Nassau Communities Hospital and pronounced dead.
"I saw a guy lying down so i went over there... Does anybody's life cost 22 dollars - no... It's really bad people don't think before they commit something," Parminder Singh, a worker at a neighboring gas station said.
Police say minutes before the hit-and-run the suspect - seen in an orange hat - tried to use a fake credit card inside the gas station but was denied.
Investigators say the SUV then turned and fled south after leaving the station. Authorities are warning people to be on the lookout for an early 1990's GMC Yukon or Suburban-type vehicle with front end driver's side damage.
Nassau County police are asking anyone with information about this incident to contact them at 1-800-244-TIPS.
