It was sometime Tuesday and Rosemarie Rembert got a telephone call from a friend saying he had just seen her son on the TV news.
The friend said her son, Zahir, 15, was shown on a surveillance tape, allegedly robbing a Lukoil gas station on West Germantown Pike about 4 a.m. Sunday.
Rembert called police and Plymouth Township Detective Jeffrey McGee met with her. He showed her pictures of the robbery suspect, and she identified her son.
Then, she took Zahir to the Plymouth police station, where he was interviewed and admitted involvement in the Lukoil robbery and another holdup at the American Gasoline and U-Haul on East Ridge Pike on Jan. 17, McGee said.
Zahir also admitted involvement in eight to 10 other robberies in Montgomery County, the first on Dec. 23.
On Sunday, a gunman entered the Lukoil station about 4:20 a.m., picked up some beef jerky and went to the clerk as if he was going to pay for it but instead pulled a gun and announced a robbery, McGee said.
The thief took an undisclosed amount of money and fired his gun "toward" the clerk and then pistol-whipped him, McGee said.
The clerk was treated at a hospital but wasn't seriously injured. The gunshot didn't hit him.
On Jan. 17, a gunman entered the American station about 10:20 p.m., picked up some candy and pretended to be preparing to pay for it, McGee said. But he pulled a gun, took an undetermined amount of money and fled.
Zahir, of Norristown, was held in $250,000 cash bond on charges of armed robbery and aggravated assault. He was being prosecuted as an adult, McGee said. *