NORTHAMPTON – A masked man robbed a convenience store at the Phillips 66 gas station on Russell Street early Tuesday, threatening a clerk with a knife and fleeing on foot with stolen cash, according to Hadley Police.
The robbery happened at around 12:25 a.m. Police described the suspect as a white or Hispanic male in his twenties or thirties, wearing a hooded sweatshirt with a mask over his face. No one was injured in the incident.
“He threatened he had a knife, but he did not show it,” Hadley Police Sgt. Mitchell Kuc said. “He got $60 to $70 in cash. He fled on foot.”
An Amherst K-9 unit and State Police Crime Scene Unit responded to the scene to assist Hadley Police. Kuc said police are in the process of collecting and reviewing surveillance footage from the gas station and local businesses as part of their investigation.
The robbery was not the first time in recent years at the Phillips 66 gas station, located near the intersection of West Street and Route 9. In March 2014, a masked man carrying what appeared to be a wooden stick or club robbed the business and fled on foot with an undisclosed amount of cash.
“The place just gets hit,” Kuc said. “It’s the most westerly gas station on Route 9 closest to the highway that’s open late at night.”
Dan Crowley can be reached at dcrowley@gazettenet.com.