Police: Same man likely hits two gas stations within minutes

Suffolk County police said they believe the same man tried to rob one gas station Sunday night and robbed another gas station minutes later.

A man, armed with a handgun, tried to rob a Valero gas station on Montauk Highway in East Patchogue minutes before 9 p.m., but fled without any proceeds, police said.

Minutes later, a man armed with a handgun robbed OK Petroleum on Montauk Highway in Brookhaven and fled with an undetermined amount of cash, police said.

The gas stations are about 3 1/2 miles apart and “detectives believe the two incidents are related,” police said in a statement.