NEW YORK, USA—He doesn’t know why he did it.

But when a gunman tried to rob Amrik Singh’s Citgo gas station in Hyde Park, Singh fought back — first by throwing shoes, then by chasing the armed suspect out of the store.
“I had (not) planned to do something,” said Singh, a 58-year-old married father-of-two and a longtime Hyde Park resident. “Something can tell me inside … what to do.” But at first, “I tried to give him money. I don’t know really, what happened.”
State police, who were still looking for the suspect Wednesday evening, released surveillance video of the incident.
Singh has owned the Route 9 Mini Mart Citgo Station in Staatsburg for 19 years, he said. He, along with his wife and father-in-law, run the daily operations of the store, which has been robbed once before, Singh said.

But Tuesday was just another night for Singh, until the suspect — a white male, described as 5-foot-10 with a thin build — came in with a shotgun around 8 p.m. He was wearing dark clothing, two masks and gloves.
The video shows the suspect brandishing a shotgun in Singh’s direction.
“I don’t see him when he walks in,” Singh said of the suspect, “just when he comes in the door. He (has) got a shotgun” and was wearing a camouflage mask. The suspect donned another mask on top of the camouflage one.
“He got a plastic bag,” Singh added. “He gives it to me and says, ‘Put the money in the bag or I’ll shoot you.’ ” Singh started loading cash into the plastic bag. But the suspect was “very close to the counter and he’s saying, ‘Put a $100 bill (in the bag), put a $100 bill.’ “

“I fell down in the parking lot” and the suspect fled alone in his vehicle, Singh said.
Police said the suspect headed northbound on Route 9 in a dark-colored vehicle with orange New York license plates.
But the gunman also left “empty-handed,” Singh said. “He didn’t get anything.”
His adrenaline pumping, Singh had trouble dialing police on the phone right after the fight. But an off-duty officer who had been driving past the store heard the shot fired and turned around, Singh said. That officer helped Singh contact authorities.
Maryann Monachelli, a longtime customer of Singh’s, said she was “devastated” when she saw the surveillance video on the state police Facebook page.
“He’s a hard-working, good man,” said Monachelli, one of the many people who stopped by the store Wednesday to check on Singh. “He didn’t deserve this to happen to him and I want them to catch” the suspect.
Singh said he has no pistol permit or gun, nor does he have immediate plans to obtain either — those may be possibilities in the future.
“With God with me, I’m not scared of nothing,” Singh said. “I’m not a hero … I don’t want to be a hero.”
How to help
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact investigator Robert Torre at the Rhinebeck state police barracks at 845-876-4049, or via email at Robert.torre@troopers.ny.gov. ​