A Clifton gas station attendant got the last laugh after an attempted armed robbery Monday afternoon.
The attendant works for the Delta gas station off Broad Street. Police say he used a squeegee to fight off a would-be robber with a gun. And it was all caught on surveillance cameras.
Attendant Kuljit Singh can be seen running from a man he says had a gun. Singh says the incident happened around 3 p.m. He says the suspect approached him, asking for a cigarette. He says that when he told the man that he did not have a cigarette, the man pulled out a gun and demanded money.
Singh didn't react the way one might expect. Instead of giving in, he grabbed the squeegee and started swinging. He then ran inside the station screaming for his coworkers’ help.
Singh held off the suspect and kept him from entering the building and completing the robbery, while coworkers called 911. Singh was even able to break the window of the getaway car as the suspect drove off.
Police say that two other gas stations were hit the same day by a man with a gun – a Valero in Hasbrouck Heights and a convenience store in Paterson. Police say the Paterson robbery happened a few hours later and the man ran off with $300-$400, fleeing the scene in a dark-colored Challenger – the same vehicle described at the other two locations.
Despite the similarities, it was not immediately known if the three crimes were related.