Police from the 111th Precinct in Bayside are looking for a burglar who broke into an Oakland Gardens gas station in broad daylight and stole multiple cartons of cigarettes on Sunday, Oct. 22.
The burglary occurred just after 5 p.m., when an unidentified man entered the back office of the BP gas station located at 219-02 Horace Harding Expwy. and removed 13 cartons of smokes, police said.
The suspect was last seen running eastbound along the Horace Harding Expressway toward Alley Pond Park. There were no reported injuries as a result of the incident.
The NYPD released surveillance images of the suspect on Oct. 24 that show him entering the Dunkin’ Donuts at the gas station and casing the mini mart before slipping into the back office.
He is described as having a dark complexion and a thin mustache and was last seen wearing a blue and gray hooded sweatshirt under a dark jacket with dark pants and a black baseball cap.
A reward of up to $3,500 is being offered for information that leads to his arrest. Anyone with information is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 800-577-TIPS.
The 111th Precinct has reported 247 burglaries so far in 2023, 31 more than the 216 reported at the same point last year, an increase of 14.4%, according to the most recent CompStat report.
