5'8" is above the average height of a Yakuza or Triad gangster. And the hair has to be straight, black hair

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shortish + black hair + proximity to Newport. I'm thinking Yakuza or maybe Triad or Thugs (http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/thug).

The bandits got away? Did anyone call the sheriff?

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And I assume that the point of the description is to try to help catch the culprits, right? Why leave off one of the most visible description items in a diverse city?

I'm with you. If the attendant saw that they had black hair, he probably saw if they were African-American. It's not racist to state a fact. The robbers being African American (IF THEY WERE) doesn't imply that all African Americans are robbers.

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I'm just saying, maybe not the best way of writing stories to leave us to assume that they're of the particular race everyone jumps to. What if they aren't?

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What do you mean? If it is a crime story I automatically assume one race. You guys don't?!?

I like how they mention hair color but not skin color or race. We have lost our freakin' minds.

i wanted to emphasize the relatively early time it took place.

The other formatting was to illustrate the descriptive hair color. I don't recall seeing that mentioned too often in crime stories.

Weird that you made the time and hair description bold.

By Patrick Villanova | The Jersey Journal on October 29, 2014 at 8:01 AM A Jersey City gas station attendant was robbed at gunpoint late Monday night near the entrance of the Holland Tunnel by a pair of thieves in ski masks, authorities said. At around 10:40, a worker at the Sunoco gas station on the corner of 14th Street and Jersey Avenue was attending to two vehicles when he was approached by two men wearing all black outfits and black half ski masks, according to a police report. The attendant later told police that one of the robbers approached him from the front and was carrying a black handgun, while the other approached from behind, police stated. The gun-toting thief then cocked the weapon and demanded the man "give me all your money," while the other told him to "hurry up," according to the report. The worker then gave the armed robber $110 in cash, before both men fled north toward the Holland Gardens public housing complex, the report stated. The attendant, who refused medical attention, said the robber holding the gun was around 5 feet, 8 inches, heavy set and had short black hair. He was wearing a black jacket with a zipper, black track pants and the black ski mask, police said. The other bandit was described as approximately 5 feet, 7 inches tall, had short black hair and was also dressed in all black. Pretty ballsy...