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Black-masked suspect robs gas station

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Weapon looked like shotgun

The McKinley County Sheriff’s Office is investigating an Oct. 15 armed robbery of a gas station in Thoreau.

Deputy Johnson Lee said he was dispatched to the Giant Station in Thoreau just after midnight because of an alarm going off at the business. As Lee was driving there, Metro Dispatch reportedly told him they were having trouble contacting the store.

Just before he arrived at the station, he received word that someone at the business said they were robbed by a man carrying a shotgun and wearing a black mask.

After interviewing the three clerks at the store, Lee learned the suspect began walking south after he was given the cash from the register.

Lee and another deputy were able to follow the suspect’s footprints for a short distance, but lost them when the suspect began to walk on pavement.

Later, when he watched the video surveillance, Lee said he saw the suspect walk up to the door and pull out a pipe, holding it in such a way that it looked like a shotgun.

The suspect was described as a Native American male about 5-foot-9 and weighing about 190 pounds.