Gas station employee sustains fractured skull during violent robbery: Toronto police

Toronto police say they are searching for a suspect responsible for violently attacking a gas station employee downtown after being robbed.

On June 13, at about 4 a.m., a man walked into a gas station in the area of Front and Sherbourne streets, disguised with a baseball hat and hoodie pulled tightly around his face, police said.

Investigators released security video that appears to show the suspect walking towards the kiosk, pulling out a knife, and jumping over the counter pointing it at the gas station employee.

The suspect demanded he open the cash register and ordered him to lay on the ground, police said.

Investigators said the man then removed money from the till as the employee remained laying on the floor and compliant.

Police said he then stomps on the employee’s head several times until he becomes unconscious and then flees the scene.

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The gas station employee was found by another patron entering the store and was then taken to hospital suffering serious injuries from a fractured skull, and cuts and bruises to his face, police said.

WATCH: Video of a violent gas station robbery caught on camera in downtown Toronto

1:16 Toronto police release video of violent downtown robbery

Lauren Pogue of Hold Up with Toronto police told reporters at a news conference on Wednesday that the victim “is just a hard-working individual who was working the night shift, trying to put himself through school.”

“The level of violence seen in this robbery is particularly disturbing.”

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Pogue said the victim has since been released from hospital and is now in rehab, where he is expected to remain for a number of weeks.

The suspect is described as a five-foot-eight to five-foot-10 man in his mid-20s with a thin and muscular build. He was wearing a dark hoodie with a silver zipper, black Chuck Taylor shoes and black gloves.

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Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 416-808-7350, or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477).