Cops: Cigarettes, lotto tickets stolen in East End gas station burglary
A burglar broke into an East End gas station Saturday morning and stole coins, cigarettes and lottery tickets, Town of Riverhead police said.
The 2:11 a.m. theft was discovered about an hour later, when a newspaper deliveryman came by to drop off the latest edition and noticed damage to the glass door of the American Gas Station, 1427 Main Rd., Jamesport, police said.
Officers who answered the deliveryman's call found the north side glass door had been broken into. The burglar, described by police as a man wearing a dark-colored hoodie, was recorded on video surveillance and took change kept in the drawers, cartons of cigarettes -- mostly Newport -- and scratch-off lottery tickets, said Det. Dixon Palmer of the Riverhead police.
"He's got the hoodie up over his head. He's got gloves on," said Palmer, describing what investigators saw on the "really grainy video."
Palmer said the department does not disclose how much money is stolen in thefts. Police would scrutinize whoever tries to cash in a winning lottery ticket, Palmer said.
A call to the gas station rang unanswered.
Matthew Chayes, a Newsday reporter since 2007, covers New York City.
