On Friday around 10:15 a.m. police responded to the Wegmans parking lot for the report of an armed robbery.
Officers located a female victim who said that she was parked in the southwest area of the parking lot. She was eating lunch while on a break from work when a male suspect, who was unknown to her, opened the passenger side door.
He got into the vehicle and pulled out a knife – pointing it at her in a threatening manner, police said in a release.
The victim quickly got out of the vehicle and began running toward Wegmans to get help. That’s when the suspect got into the driver’s seat of the vehicle and left the lot.
The female was not physically injured during the incident.
Road patrol officers and investigators worked together to help the victim and process the crime scene in an attempt to find the vehicle. Around an hour later, the stolen vehicle was found parked and unoccupied at the Holiday Inn Express about 1.3 miles away from the original location.
Police say Jason Gassner, 36, of Spencer Road was charged with first-degree robbery, which is a Class B violent felony. He was arraigned and held at the Tompkins County Jail without bail due to having an active parole warrant.
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