The 18-year-old admitted to it after being charged in an unrelated shoplifting case, police say.
Months after a knife-wielding robber was chased away by a gas station attendant waving a golf club, police say they have found the would-be bandit.
Jarrett C. Burd, 18, of the 700 block of Route 173 in Bloomsbury, was in police custody for an unrelated shoplifting case when he allegedly admitted that in February he tried to rob the 76 gas station off Route 22 in Greenwich Township.
Township police had asked for help identifying the man seen in a surveillance photo wearing a mask and brandishing a knife in the Feb. 25 holdup.
According to an affidavit, Burd entered the gas station shortly after 3 a.m. that morning demanding $60. Burd later told police he needed the money "to 're-up' as he was in a bad place," the affidavit says.
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The gas station employee reportedly persuaded Burd to follow him out to the booth where the money was. From the booth, the worker grabbed a golf club and chased the masked man away.
On Thursday, Greenwich police were contacted by officers in neighboring Pohatcong Township -- they had Burd on a shoplifting charge, and he allegedly admitted to them that he tried to rob the 76. He showed police where he had run off that night, and where he left the black shirt he used to cover his face, the affidavit says.
Burd was sent to the Warren County jail on charges of attempted robbery and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose. The attempted robbery charge is the most serious, a second-degree crime that could carry a sentence of up to 10 years in prison.
Steve Novak may be reached at snovak@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @type2supernovak and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.