Man warns others after frightening encounter at gas pump

ATLANTA — A scary situation occurred at a southeast Atlanta gas station where a local man said a couple guys surrounded his car and demanded his cellphone.
 
Technically no crime was committed, but Alex Ramaldes believes that's only because he got very lucky. 
 
Alex Ramaldes told Channel 2's Rikki Klaus that he was gassing up his car at the Chevron gas station on Memorial Drive in southeast Atlanta around 9 p.m. Sunday.
 
"I said, 'Something is odd,' but I kept pumping," Ramaldes said.
 
Suddenly, two cars pulled up and boxed his in. One of the drivers approached him. 
 
"He said, 'Hey, I'm in a hurry. I have an emergency. Do you have a cellphone?' And I said, 'No sir, I don't have a cellphone.' And he kept walking. I said, 'Sir, I told you I don't have a cellphone,'" Ramaldes said.
 
Ramaldes told Klaus the stranger got really close and just when Ramaldes was about to reach for his phone and give it up, an officer appeared.
 
"So the police noticed there was a lot of agitation, and those guys just left," Ramaldes said.
 
Ramaldes said the guys peeled out and the officer followed them. The incident has other customers on edge.
 
"This is an outrage. You can't come pump gas without someone trying to rob you for your cellphone? I mean, there are jobs out here. Go get a job," customer Cici Cherry said.
 
Ramaldes said the timing of the officer arriving was incredible.
 
"To have a policeman show up at the same gas station when something that is happened is a lot of luck, or you call (a) miracle," Ramaldes said.
 
Most of all, Ramaldes said he wants people to know about the scary situation and realize the guys are still out there.
 
He lost a loved one during a robbery. So, his advice to others is to cooperate.
 
"Even though it's hard to give away something you worked so hard to earn, but your life is more important," Ramaldes said.
 
The gas station said its outside surveillance cameras do not work.
 
They said they need to fix them, because this is not the only incident that has happened around there lately.

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