NJ gas station worker accused of scamming thousands from victims

🔺 NJ gas attendant accused of stealing thousands

🔺 Cards were double-swiped, police say

🔺 Potential victims urged to come forward

A 48-year-old gas station worker has been accused of stealing thousands of dollars from over a dozen customers at a popular business along Route 9, according to Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond Santiago.

Patrick A. Brown, of Newark, has been indicted by a Monmouth County Grand Jury on 52 third- and fourth-degree counts — 13 counts each of credit card fraud, false uttering, theft and credit card theft.

Last summer, Freehold Township Police, led by Sgt. Sean Foley, found a pattern of thefts for a “limited amount of time in August 2023” at the Wawa gas station along the northbound highway.

Brown allegedly would take a credit card or debit card from a customer and swipe it through an “attached device on his personal phone,” before using it to pay for the actual gas order.

Each time, he funneled hundreds of dollars at a time into a bank account that Brown controlled, police
said.

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Brown — who no longer works at the gas station — was criminally charged the same week as the reported initial theft and charged with more offenses as additional victims became known.

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Anyone with information about Brown’s activities, or anyone who believes they may have been victimized has been urged to contact Sgt. Sean Foley at 732-252-1950 or sfoley@twp.freehold.nj.us.

Brown’s next appearance was set for May 6 in Monmouth County Superior Court.

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