Police warn of burglaries in Preston

Preston, Conn. (WTNH) - A robbery at a Mobil station and three burglaries have police asking Preston residents to be cautious.

When it gets dark out the clerk at the Mobil gas station on Route 12 locks the door until he sees someone pull up to the pump. Then he opens it up and goes outside. He does this because of a recent robbery.

It's not the only trouble in town, but it may have been the scariest.

"Two people came, and they came here, direct inside and they knock, here, using the bad word," said Suruj Miah.

Miah said one of the suspects then forced his way behind the counter and went right for the register.

"So they come like this, then they take all the money and they run away," said Miah.

"I came in and he was all messed up and said what was the matter. And he says we had just got robbed and I said not again and he says yeah," said Terence Brown.

It was the second robbery at this gas station. Several homes in town have also been burglarized recently.

Chet Drong lives across the street from where one of home burglaries occurred.

His wife and another woman, who had been burglarized as well, saw a suspicious car and called police.

"The people were caught right in the house, they broke in the back door," said Drong.

Bob Boyd, a Public Works Foreman, said, "These victims, they're getting scoped out, maybe a couple of days ahead of time. They're watching what time these residents leave for work what time they come home."

After those arrests, Boyd says there were more break-ins and they were major thefts. He works closely with police in keeping an eye on the 60 miles of roads in town.

At the time of the second gas station robbery a surveillance camera was not working, so there is no surveillance video, but the owner says he is going to fix it and install a second camera.