NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) – A Long Island man was sentenced to 25 years to life for fatally striking a 59-year-old gas station attendant while trying to escape without paying for his fuel, the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office said.
Judge Meryl Berkowitz sentenced Joshua Roston to 25 years to life in prison on Friday.
Roston, 38, of Baldwin, was convicted on Oct. 27 of second-degree murder, manslaughter, leaving the scene of an incident without reporting and several robbery charges.
At 7:20 a.m. on Jan. 14, 2019, the defendant pulled his black GMC SUV up to the middle pump of Pit Stop gas station in North Baldwin and asked a worker to fill his tank, the district attorney’s office said.
The gas station worker put $22 worth of fuel into the SUV, and Roston began to go back-and-forth on how he would pay, officials said.
Authorities reported that Roston originally said he would use a credit card inside, but once inside the store, he said he wished to visit an ATM and pay in cash.
At this point, the worker was replaced by 59-year-old gas station attendant Cemal Dagdeviren, who told Roston that there was an ATM across the street.
The two exited the store together, and when Dagdeviren turned his back for a moment, Roston entered his SUV.
Dagdeviren felt Roston back into him slightly before he moved to the front of the SUV, knocking on the driver’s window and grabbing the SUV’s windshield, the district attorney’s office said.
Officials said that at this point, Dagdeviren was in front of the car, looking through the windshield at Roston.
The defendant nudged forward slightly before accelerating, running over Dagdeviren. Roston's SUV dragged the victim several feet, killing him.
“This is one of the most senseless cases we’ve ever seen in this office. An innocent man’s life ended over $22 worth of gasoline,” said Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly. “Cemal worked hard to support his family and was doing his job – attempting to stop Joshua Roston from driving off without paying – when he was viciously barreled over and dragged beneath Roston’s SUV.”
Roston fled the scene, but turned himself in four days later, on Jan. 18, 2019, in Philadelphia.
He was also convicted of stealing gasoline from two other Nassau County gas stations in April 2018 and December 2018.
“At trial, Joshua Roston was defiant; brazenly and insultingly claiming on the witness stand that Cemal was the aggressor. We hope that today’s sentence brings Cemal’s family some comfort and we continue to keep them in our thoughts,” Donnelly said.