UPDATED: Shell Station Robbed at Knifepoint; Mobil on West Street May Have Been First Target

If at first you don’t succeed, try again.

This appears to be the mantra of the man who robbed the Shell Gas Station on Walker’s Brook Road at knifepoint last night, as just 45 minutes earlier, it seems he may have tried unsuccessfully to hold up a Mobil on West Street at the Reading-Woburn town line.

At 10:33 p.m., the suspect entered the Shell Station and displayed a black knife to the cashier, before taking the register drawer and leaving on foot, according to information in the Reading Police log. The thief got away with an unknown sum of money. Earlier, at 9:53 p.m., a man with a similar description walked into the Mobil Station at 4 West St. and brandished a knife, but left without any money.

The suspect from the Mobil attempted robbery was described as a white male, wearing a black hat, black jacket and dark sunglasses, who displayed a black knife to the cashier. The man who robbed the Shell was described as a white male, approximetely 6-foot-2, in his 30s, with a thick black mustache, wearing a black hat, black jacket and black pants.

Police received the report of the armed robbery at the Shell while investigating the attempt at the Mobil, and interviewed several potential witnesses at the Cumberland Farms but could not locate the suspect.

Officers did detain one person near REI on Salem Street who matched the suspect description, and he was interviewed and a small knife was confiscated. Police brought the victim in to identify the man, but did not get a match, and released him.

Police have yet to make arrests in either case, and both investigations are ongoing.

These incidents come on the heels of the knifepoint , in which no arrests have been made, although Hamilton Police did arrest a couple who were being looked at in that robbery.

Anyone with any information regarding these matters should call Reading police at once.