Man Shot at Gas Station Sues, Says Clerk Refused Him Help

After being robbed and shot in the chest while pumping gas into his car at a Shell station in Inglewood, Abedalsalam Alkhatatbeh said, he did not think it could get any worse.

But he was dumbfounded when, he says, the gas station attendant ignored his initial pleas to call 911. “I was stunned; I couldn’t believe it,” said Alkhatatbeh, 31.

The attendant, Mohan Pandey, 49, and service station owner, Michael Kim, tell a different story. Pandey says he called the police as soon as he found out Alkhatatbeh had been shot and even called Alkhatatbeh’s girlfriend at his request.

The proof, they say, lies in telephone records that have yet to be released by the Inglewood Police Department.

But in Torrance Superior Court on Feb. 17, Alkhatatbeh filed suit against Shell Oil Co., Pandey and Kim for negligence. He is asking for $1 million, said his attorney David Ganezer.

Alkhatatbeh says that after being shot he stumbled from the cashier’s booth to a Jack in the Box restaurant next door, where workers called for help, he said. Pandey eventually called the police, Ganezer said, but only after Alkhatatbeh had staggered away.

Alkhatatbeh said he had just finished pumping gas at the station in the early morning of Nov. 7 when two men, one armed, approached him and demanded money. When Alkhatatbeh gave them his wallet, which had no cash, he was shot in the chest, he said.

Alkhatatbeh said he then staggered over to the cashier’s booth for help. Pandey then lifted up the phone receiver and said, “This isn’t mine,” and then hung it up, Alkhatatbeh claimed.

But Pandey says he did not delay. “I called the police immediately,” he said. “I asked him, ‘Are you hurt?’ and he said, ‘Call the police,’ ” Pandey said.

Shell Oil Co. officials said they regret any injury or harm that may have come from the incident but declined to comment further on the case.

Alkhatatbeh said that since the shooting he has been in pain. Without medical insurance, he said, he doesn’t know how he will pay thousands of dollars in medical bills.

No arrests have been made in connection with the attack.