Brick Man Charged In Christmas Eve Gas Station Robbery

A Brick Township man has been charged with first-degree armed robbery in connection with the Christmas Eve robbery of the Shell gas station on Lanes Mill Road, township police said.

Patrick J. Dalesandro, 38, of Cottonwood Drive, is being held at the Ocean County Jail, Toms River, in lieu of $300,000 bail in connection with the Dec. 24 incident, Brick Sgt. Henry Drew said Monday.

Dalesandro is accused of robbing the gas attendant at the Shell station at 1 Lanes Mill Road, at the intersection where Exit 91 southbound from the Garden State Parkway deposits motorists. Drew said Brick police were called to the station about 8:30 p.m. on Christmas Eve, and the attendant told them a white male robbed him at knifepoint after the attendant pumped gas into the man’s car.

The assailant, whom the attendant described as a heavyset white male about 5-foot-9 or 5-foot-10 with brown facial hair and wearing a light-color bandanna then drove away in the older Honda Civic with an undisclosed amount of cash, Drew said.

Brick Detectives Robert Shepherd, Gregory Mullarkey, Thomas Cooney began actively investigating the case, and through the use of video surveillance were able to ultimately identify Dalesandro, who they arrested Friday, according to Ocean County Corrections records.

Dalesandro was charged with first degree armed robbery, unlawful possession of a weapon, and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose. Bail was set by Superior Court Judge Robert Lepore at $300,000, with no option to post 10 percent.

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