A suspected robber was arrested following an hours-long standoff at an upstate gas station, officials said.
The drama unfolded shortly around 8:50 a.m. Saturday at the Valero gas station on S. William Street in Newburgh, when an armed robber was initially believed to have taken a clerk hostage, according to reports.
Mayor Torrance Harvey told News 12 there was one alleged armed robber and one clerk inside the store and that Newburgh police, Orange County sheriff’s department, New York state troopers and SWAT teams responded to the incident.
Harvey said the law enforcers did a “major sweep” of the facility and then negotiations with the suspect took place.
Authorities were then able to free the clerk and arrest the suspect, the mayor said.
Authorities later determined there was no hostage situation, saying instead that the suspect had refused to leave the convenience store, News12 reported.
But by 10:20 a.m., officials confirmed one suspect was in custody, News12 tweeted.
“Right now everything is clear, no problems,” advised a man who answered the phone at the Hudson View Pharmacy on nearby Lake Street at around 11:15 a.m.
The name of the suspect and the charges were not immediately released.