Philadelphia gas station owner hires heavily armed guards after becoming 'tired of nonsense'

Imagine trying to fill up your gas and having an armed guard standing at your side and watching your every move.

Sadly, this is the reality at a gas station in North Philadephia, after local gas station operator Neil Patel hired private security guards with weapons to protect his business.

Patel made the drastic call after one of his 22 chain gas stations had become the target of several instances of burglary, carjackings, and vandalism.

The final straw for Patel came when a group of suspects drove up and stole his ATM machine.

The gas station owner told Fox29: “They are forcing us to hire the security, high-level security, state level. We are tired of this nonsense; robbery, drug trafficking, hanging around, gangs.”

More on this story in the report below:

The security personnel are from a group called PA SITE Agency Security and they can be seen on the property in Kevlar vests and holding semi-automatic guns.

The chief of security for SITE, Andre Boyer, informed Fox29: “We wear Kevlar, we are trained, my guards go to training every other week, they’re proficient with their taser [and] they know the law.”

At first, the decision was met with mixed reactions among the residents of Philadelphia.

Some users on Twitter said they felt “uncomfortable” going to this gas station, with one social media user outright saying: "I would never go to this gas station."

“A lot of people didn’t understand why we were here,” Chief Boyer said on Fox News.

However, the majority of users actually said the decision would make them feel safer, and some even praised owner Patel for making the change. "Bravo to this business owner protecting his customers," local radio host John Kincade tweeted.

Since guarding the Karco gas station, Boyer claims the level of crime has dropped significantly, according to Fox News.

The chief said: “The following week, when people realized what happened here, a lot of people got on board, and they said, ‘Hey I love coming here.’”

The decision by Patel has also called into question the issue of crime rates in Philadelphia:

Data found by NeighborhoodScout suggested that Philadelphia has one of the highest crime rates in America, with the chances of becoming a victim of property crimes (motor theft, burglary) being one in 34.

We can only hope that more local businesses won't feel the need to hire armed guards in order to keep customers and employees safe.

Featured image credit: dbtravel / Alamy