Fairview police search for assault rifle-wielding robbery suspect

Police are asking for help finding a person who held up a Fairview Heights gas station armed with what appeared to be an assault rifle.

At about 5:30 a.m. on Friday, the suspect walked into Bucky’s BP at 10040 Lincoln Trail and approached the clerk with the rifle in plain view, according to police reports. He demanded cash from the register and fled on foot toward the east.

No one was injured during the robbery. But Lt. Mike Hoguet said he was alarmed to see a person commit an aggressive crime while armed with an assault rifle.

“Any time you have a person who is willing to commit a violent crime while armed with a weapon that could do that sort of damage I am extremely concerned,” Hoguet said.

The suspect is described as a black male, 17 to 25 years old and 5-foot-10-inches to 6 feet tall. He had a slim build, was estimated to weigh 145 to 175 pounds and was wearing a black hoodie with a covering over his face, according to police.

It was the second time in a week that someone robbed a metro-east BP station with a long gun. Last week, the BP at 17th Street and North Belt West in Swansea was robbed by a woman armed with a shotgun or a rifle.

Fairview Heights had another armed robbery of a gas station in June when a man wearing a ski mask and brandishing a handgun walked into the Circle K at 10425 Lincoln Trail. That suspect, who did not match the description of the Friday robbery, escaped with an unspecified amount of cash.

As of Monday afternoon neither Fairview Heights case has been solved, and the suspects are believed to still be on the loose, Hoguet said.

Anyone with information about the suspect is asked to call the Fairview Heights Police Department at 618-489-2159.

This story was originally published August 10, 2015 at 7:21 AM with the headline "Fairview police search for assault rifle-wielding robbery suspect."