Police: Man Asks for $5 in Gas, Pulls Out Gun

Bloomfield Police are investigating whether an Irvington man arrested last week on charges of robbing a local gas station could have carried out a string of robberies at other gas stations in Union and Essex counties.

Leonard Crosby, 46, was arrested at his Coit Street home June 30 and charged with two counts of armed robbery and weapons connected to two May robberies at the RPM gas station at 960 Chancellor Avenue in Irvington, Lt. Michael Tomich of the Irvington Police Department said Thursday.

Tomich said eight gas station robberies occurred in Irvington in May and June and all of the incidents had the same characteristics: The suspect would drive up to a gas pump in the evening, ask for $5 to $10 of gasoline and then pull out a handgun to rob the gas attendant.

Similar robberies recently took place at gas stations in Bloomfield, Newark, Elizabeth, Hillside, Linden, Nutley and Union, Tomich said.

Bloomfield Police Lt. Joseph Polido said Crosby was identified by a gas station worker as a suspect in a June 21 robbery at the  gas station on 630 Bloomfield Ave. Polido said no charges have been filed and that case is still being reviewed.

Tomich said police are investigating whether Crosby could be tied to the robberies in other towns and cities.

Irvington police focused on Crosby after two June 29 Delta gas station robberies on Coit Street and Chancellor Avenue. Workers at the gas stations said they were robbed by a man driving a stolen silver Audi, which police found parked two blocks away, Tomich said.

Newark police provided assistance in downloading video of the robberies and the Essex County Sheriff's Office provided a tracking bloodhound, which led officers to Crosby's home, Tomich said.
Crosby is being held in the Essex County Jail on $500,000 bail.