INGLEWOOD : 911 Tape Refutes Claim of Man Shot at Station

The 911 tapes released by police this week reveal that a Shell gas station attendant, accused of ignoring pleas for help from a customer wounded in a robbery attempt, called for help just after the incident.

According to a $1-million lawsuit filed Feb. 17 by Inglewood resident Abedalsalam Alkhatatbeh, the attendant refused to call 911 after Alkhatatbeh was shot once in the chest during the Nov. 7 incident.

The lawsuit has since been settled, said Alkhatatbeh’s attorney David Ganezer. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

Alkhatatbeh has said he banged on the window of the cashier’s booth at the Inglewood station and asked the attendant, Mohan Pandey, to call the police. But he said Pandey would not make the call, forcing him to walk to a Jack in the Box next door.

But according to tapes released by the Inglewood Police Department, Pandey called 911 three minutes before the call from the Jack in the Box was placed.

During that call, Pandey told the 911 operator that a customer was shot while pumping gas and that he could see “some red color on his shirt.”

Pandey has maintained that he called 911 immediately and even called Alkhatatbeh’s girlfriend after the incident.

Ganezer said the Shell attendant should have done more for the victim, including letting him into the booth to use the phone.

Shell spokeswoman Dee Dee Taylor said the company trains attendants to call for help in emergencies but not to let anyone inside the cashier’s booth for security reasons.