Long Island gas station worker fatally struck by driver who tried to pay with fake credit card

LONG ISLAND, N.Y. (WPIX) -- Police on Long Island are looking for the driver of a black SUV who ran over and killed a gas station manager early Monday morning.

The driver was trying to leave without paying for $22 worth of gas, according to the Nassau County Police Department.

"He was trying to ruse them. You know, trying to get that opportunity that he could jet out of there without paying," Detective Lt. Stephen Fitzpatrick said.

Surveillance video at the Pit Stop gas station on Grand Avenue in South Hempstead showed the last moments of 59-year-old Cemal Dagdieviren's life.

He was trying to stop the driver from leaving.

The early 1990s Black GMC SUV pulled into the gas station shortly before 7:30 a.m. Monday.

The suspect was acting strangely at the full service pump, so only the $22 was pumped, police said. Even though he had waved a $50 bill, he said he had no money and police said he tried to pay with a fake credit card. When that didn't work, he tried to flee.

As Dagdieviren tried to stop him, the suspect accelerated the vehicle, striking and killing the married, 59-year-old father of two.

The vehicle had no license plates and registration, police said. The driver's side headlight is out and there is front-end damage.

Police described the suspect as over 6 feet tall with a thin build. He is likely in his 30s and wears his hair in long dreadlocks. The driver was last seen wearing black cargo pants, a grey hooded sweatshirt, a bright orange hat and work boots.

The vehicle was last seen going southbound on Grand Avenue.

Anyone with information is urged to the Nassau County Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-244-TIPS.