Police Investigate Gas Station After Masked Man Spooks Customer

A man described by police as "mentally challenged" walked out of an Eagle Rock gas station wearing a Halloween mask Thursday, prompting a customer outside to call the police, which responded to the scene—only to find that the man is a local who had committed no crime.

The incident occurred around 2 p.m. at the at 5261 Eagledale Ave., at the Broadway crossing near the 2 freeway, according to the LAPD and a cashier at the gas station.

“He came in and basically told me what do you think of this,” said the employee, Nadir Shah. “I told him, 'Don’t do that,' [and] he just walked out, and somebody outside called the cops.”

Sgt. Sanford Rosenberg, the watch commander at the Northeast Community Station, confirmed that the masked man was “a local” who was “probably mentally challenged.” LAPD officers investigated the situation, and “there was no crime,” he said, adding: “It’s not what everyone thinks—it's all over now.”

Shah told Eagle Rock Patch that the masked man lives in the neighborhood and “likes doing stuff like that." He added: “In his head he thinks he’s an actor. He keeps on saying that the camera is watching him. When he does something like that, I don’t pay attention to it.”

Asked if he ever felt threatened by the man’s antics, Shah replied: “I’m not saying he’s harmless, but he hasn’t done anything yet.”