Alleged Gas Station Robber Caught

A man has been arrested for the robbery Monday night at the Irving gas station on North State Street.

John Conkle, 39, a homeless man now located in Concord, was arrested on Oct. 13, 2015, on a felony armed robbery charge.

Editor’s note: This post was derived from information supplied by the Concord Police Department. It does not indicate a conviction. Click this link to find out how to get a name removed from a New Hampshire Patch police report.

According to an alert, Concord Police built a case against Conkle after being called to the gas station at around 8:45 p.m. on Monday night.

Employees stated that a man with a firearm tucked in his pants allegedly flashed the gun and demanded money from the register. A second man was reportedly outside of the gas station and they both fled on foot together.

After taking video surveillance stills from the incident and issuing a Concord Regional Crimeline alert, “some officers from Concord PD recognized the male subject who had actually entered the store and displayed the gun,” according to Lt. Timothy O’Malley, the commander of the criminal investigations unit for the department.

“Detectives later conducted a check of some known hangouts of this particular person,” O’Malley stated. “Late yesterday morning, they located the subject wearing some of the same clothes that were observed in the video. Detectives learned that at some point early on Tuesday the subject in question had trimmed his beard. Sources also reported that this subject had had a full beard the previous day, the date of the robbery.”

Detectives received “additional information” from “other sources” that reportedly established Conkle as the alleged armed robber. He was arrested yesterday and held without bail. Conkle will be arraigned today.

According to O’Malley, the incident is still an ongoing investigation. Anyone with information is asked to call police at 603-225-8600 or the Concord Regional Crimeline at 603-226-3100.

Online reports reveal that Conkle is no stranger to police.

In August 2014, he was arrested for simple assault and criminal mischief after an incident at Kimball Park. He was also issued with a no trespass order to Concord Housing Authority properties. A few months later, he was cited for panhandling on Fort Eddy Road. Conkle was also given a summons last month for panhandling, according to a report on Concord NH Patch.