The robberies are happening at Sheetz gas stations where customers can pay with cash at the pump. The station off New Bern Avenue has been hit once and the station in Fuquay Varina has been hit three times -- all by the same guy.
Surveillance photos capture suspect red-handed. Police say the man unlocks a gas pump with some kind of key, and then he rips open the lid of the inside compartment and grabs all the money he can before driving off.
"He's taking money people have paid for gasoline," says Jim Sughrue, public information officer for the Raleigh Police Department.
The cash at the pump system is supposed to stop gas drive offs, but now it's apparently giving rise to a new crime. Police are counting on the photos to catch the man.
At the New Bern Avenue station, the man pulled up in a blue car with a black top -- possibly an older Buick. In Fuquay Varina he used a maroon pickup truck with a blue hood and damage on the top of car and driver's side door.
Jim Sughrue says the photos appear to reveal the crimes took place in broad daylight.
"We're certainly hoping that the distinctiveness of the vehicles might help us," says Sughrue.
The photos also show the man is not alone. While he's raking in the dough, a woman and two small kids in the car are witnessing the crime.
Police are still looking for this man, if you can help call crimestoppers at 919 226-CRIME.
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