Employees of D Jaggernath's Service Station did not have a chance to think clearly and relied on instinct when they were attacked by bandits at the D'Abadie gas station on Monday evening.
Police said two men attacked an attendant at the corner of Boys Lane and the Eastern Main Road, D'Abadie, at around 6.08 pm and stole $500 in cash from him.
The men then tried to attack other pump attendants at the station, before they were sprayed with gasoline from one of the pumps.
The bandits, afraid the attendant would set fire to them then ran away on Boys Lane.
Newsday visited the service station on Tuesday and spoke with a manager who recalled the incident and said she hoped there would now be an increased police presence in the area.
The manager said she was concerned that such robberies would become more frequent as criminals became increasingly desperate.
"It (robberies) have happened already before but it's not very frequent, but knowing how crime in the country is going...
"They didn't get much now but it can still happen.
"We get a lot of assistance from the residents, if they see or hear anything they would let us know but we want a better police presence. I find the response was very poor from the police because the Arima police station is right there."
Newsday later spoke to the gas station's owner who asked to be identified only as "Jaggernath" who said while the employee's response was potentially dangerous, he acted on instinct as he was already holding the nozzle to refuel a customer's car.
"It wasn't a conscious decision he made to pick up the hose and nozzle. He was about to fuel a vehicle when the bandit approached him at the same time and he was already holding the hose. It was a risk but he acted on instinct."
He said while businesses have always had a good relationship with their divisional police, he hoped there would be better service going forward into the Christmas season with increased traffic and visitors in the area.
"We've always been able to make contact with them (police) but they always say yes and try to assist but that's usually their response."
"More patrols, quicker response in terms of when you call. Yes, a police post might be welcome but it's more patrols needed."
Jaggernath said he had owned the gas station for the past 11 years and, while there have been robberies, none were as dangerous as the incident on Monday evening.
He said despite the best efforts of businesses to protect their goods and workers from bandits, he was also at a loss as to what more could be done.
"This is the first time I've seen anything as severe as last night. Usually bandits would just walk in and rub down the workers in a robbery.
"I don't know what else we can do. Businesses take all these precautions with security guards and cameras, the only other option is to put a big cage over the gas station."
Newsday spoke to a senior officer in the Northern Division who said he was concerned over the spate of crime and promised it would be addressed.
He also vowed to i
