Santa Claus Gunman Robs Flushing Gas Station: NYPD

FLUSHING, QUEENS -- A pair who robbed a Queens convenience store at gunpoint last month are at it again, this time with one of them donning more festive attire.

A gunman clad in Santa Claus's signature jolly beard and red hat was anything but jolly as he and his partner held up a BP Gas Station in Flushing on Jan.4, police said.

The pair walked into the gas station at 29-16 Francis Lewis Blvd. just after 11 p.m. when the Santa-inspired thief pulled out a handgun and ordered a 26-year-old employee into the bathroom and told him to lie down on the floor, police said.

Santa's helper then took $900 from the gas station's cash register, wearing a less-festive black ski mask to keep his face covered, police said. The two then fled the scene in a silver four-door Honda Civic, driving north on Francis Lewis Boulevard.

But while the gunman's Santa Claus disguise is new, the dark blue coveralls he and his partner wore during the robbery were not.

The two suspects also robbed a 7-Eleven at gunpoint in Woodside on Dec. 17, donning similar blue coveralls in the heist, police said.

Upon walking into the convenience store at 61-19 Northern Blvd. at around 11:40 p.m., the gunman whipped out a handgun and ordered a 46-year-old employee to the floor while his partner forced a 34-year-old employee to open the cash register and took $300 in cash, authorities said.

The two then raided both employees' pockets, taking the 34-year-old cashier's cell phone and $40 in cash, police said. They also swiped lottery tickets, lighters and cigarettes before fleeing the scene.

The NYPD released video footage from the incident, in which the two are seen covered head-to-toe in blue coveralls, sunglasses and blue cloves. One man covered his face and head in a baseball cap and scarf, while the other did so in a black mask.

Anyone with information in regards to this incident is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477).

Lead photos via NYPD.