WEST FARGO (KFGO) – Theft and drug use have prompted West Fargo-based Petro Serve-USA to hire private security at three of the company’s Fargo stores.
Chief executive officer Kent Satrang says it’s something he never imagined.
“I never, ever thought that it would come to this – after being 44 years as a Cenex manager – that we’d have to have security people,” Satrang says. “And the things that happen at those stores… I would have never dreamed it.”
Satrang says, at one location, an employee was injured while trying to break-up a fight.
“At the downtown store, there were two homeless people fighting outside, so our manager said, ‘hey, we don’t want you fighting in front of our store.’ So, they picked him up and threw him against the building. He ended up in the hospital with ribs bruised,” Satrang says.
Satrang tells KFGO News, the private security hired for stores at I-94 and South University Drive, downtown Fargo, and the 13th Avenue South location has been a deterrent.
“I think the stores are to a “level” of safety. If they weren’t to a level of safety, we’d have to close them,” Satrang says. “Unfortunately, financially, we might have to close one or two of those stores because, you know, when you pay $100,000 for security to be there every shift, of course that’s $100,000 off your bottom line and those stores just don’t make that much. So, I’m not going to be surprised in the next year if we don’t have to close probably that 13th Avenue store.”
Satrang says he met with Mayor Tim Mahoney and Police Chief Dave Zibolski, and asked for more of a police presence. He says Zibolski offered to increase patrols, but he hasn’t seen much of a difference.
“We pay over $300,000 in real estate taxes in Fargo. So, I would think – when we have a problem – that someone could come and help us with it,” Satrang says. “At 13th Avenue, we have a single-stall bathroom. I think three times in the last year, we’ve had people overdose. Then, we’ll call 911.”
The Police Department’s public information office says the meeting took place more than a year ago, and Zibolski suggested that the use of restrooms be monitored and that customers be required to prepay for gas.
Petro Serve has more than 30 stores in North Dakota and Minnesota, and Satrang says there’s no need for security at other locations.
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