A brazen robbery captured by security cameras show a woman being dragged as a thief drives her Range Rover away from a Long Island gas station.
It occurred around 10:30 a.m. Tuesday at the 76 gas station on Glen Cove Road in Glen Head. A 42-year-old woman can be seen gassing up her SUV when a white Porsche Cayenne pulls up next to her. A passenger in the white Porsche gets out and climbs into the driver's seat of the Range Rover and drives away — with the woman holding onto the car.
The video shows her get dragged several yards before falling onto Glen Cove Road. A witness and good Samaritan ran out to help her.
"They could have killed her right there, because she was holding, they dragged her, they didn’t care," said Antonio Leiva who witnessed the entire incident.
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"I saw her holding onto the car, but she thought the car was moving by itself because we didn’t see anyone come into the car," Leiva explained. "She was lucky and I feel bad for her, she was badly scraped and bruised and was very upset."
The thief did a U-turn a few hundred feet away, pulling over and dumping the car, but taking the victim's purse and laptop. Leiva thinks he knows why they left the car.
"The key was in her pocket," Leiva explained. "So they left the car and she ran across the street to get her car."
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Security video shows there were several people in the white Porsche that circled the gas station, waiting for the right moment to pounce. Residents are vowing to be more cautious in light of this brazen incident.
"It’s a shame that you’d have to worry while pumping gas," said Tracie Magnotta of Old Brookville. "That someone would just drive off with your car."
The owner of the gas station says the woman was stunned by what happened and it’s also stunned him. "This is a very safe neighborhood, we’ve never had anything like this happen before," said Hardy Singh."
Police said the victim sustained minor injuries and was treated at the scene by a Nassau County Police Medic. An investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-244-TIPS.
