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Service station worker shot

The same attendant was on duty during a recent robbery.

By MICHAEL A. MOHAMMED
Published February 6, 2007

TAMPA - Michael Cardin's customers know his name.

They can stream steadily into the Circle K gas station at all hours of the night, since he never locks the doors after midnight like he's supposed to.

"He just doesn't like to see people standing in the rain," said Carl Williams, a close friend.

But the easygoing manager of the gas station at 4801 W Gandy Blvd. was the one in need of help early Monday.

Cardin, 60, went out to check the pumps at about 4 a.m., startling a man with a gun crouching behind a stack of propane tanks in the darkness, Tampa police said.

Cardin turned and ran, and was shot twice in the back. He was stable at Tampa General Hospital late Monday night, police said.

He lives in Homes of Regency Cove, a community near the Circle K. His neighbors described him as cheerful and kind.

When he cooks himself dinner, he makes extra to bring to his elderly neighbors, Williams said. "He's concerned about the senior citizens," he said.

And when storms ripped roofs off the community's homes in 2005, Cardin and Williams spent a day removing the debris with Cardin's truck, Williams said.

Cardin is proud of his work, Williams added. The store was often crowded late at night with loyal customers.

"Everybody knew his name," Williams said.

Police quickly secured the area, but did not find the shooter. A witness described him as a black man, about 6 feet tall, wearing a black hooded sweatshirt.

A man with the same description robbed the store about three months ago, while Cardin was on duty.

"He was kind of shook up," Williams said.

But, after a week's leave, Cardin returned to work.

A Circle K spokeswoman declined to comment, citing an ongoing police investigation.

Mahmoud Benchikh, a clerk at a nearby Citgo station, said he served a steady stream of Cardin's regulars Monday when the Circle K was closed for the police investigation.

The shooting convinced Benchikh to find a safer job.

"My wife - she's scared," he said.

[Last modified February 6, 2007, 06:16:57]