Help sought to find gas station armed robber

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Fort Wayne police are seeking the public’s help in identifying a man who robbed a gas station on Creighton Avenue.

A witness told police the man went into Barto’s gas station Tuesday afternoon and left soon afterward. He then returned with a handgun and his face concealed, police said.

The man got away with an undisclosed amount of cash, police said. Officers were called to the station at 1201 E. Creighton Ave. about 12:40 p.m. No injuries were reported.

On Wednesday, investigators released a surveillance-camera image of the robber that shows him standing in the store, wearing a black jacket and black gloves.

Owner Tom Barto said his station had not been robbed since 1973. “A lot of people in the neighborhood have stopped in to make sure we’re OK,” he said.

From 1994 until this year, the station sat a block from Fort Wayne Police Department headquarters. Had headquarters still been on Creighton and not in its new location downtown in the former City-County Building, Barto does not believe that would have discouraged the robber.

“I don’t think it would have made any difference at all,” he said.

Anyone who can identify the robber is asked to call police at 427-1222 or Crime Stoppers at 436-7867.