CANARSIE, Brooklyn — A robbery victim, who decided to take the law into his own hands by mowing down an armed teen thief, severing his right arm, is now in handcuffs himself, police said.
Police arrested the robbery victim, Philip Pierre, 39, of East Flatbush, Brooklyn, and charged him with attempted murder. The alleged teen thief, Zachary Sam, 17, also of Canarsie, Brooklyn, was charged with robbery and criminal possession of a weapon in the Craigslist robbery gone wrong. Both were charged on Friday.
Police said Sam connected with Pierre, who was selling a pair of Air Jordan sneakers, on Craigslist. They met about 1 p.m. Friday near Avenue M and East 84th Street in Canarsie, where Sam got into Sam's SUV and pulled out a gun, police said. The teen stole the sneakers and then walked away.
Sam managed to make it only 100 yards or so when Pierre made a U-turn, stepped on the gas and ran over Sam, severing his arm, police told WPIX.
Sam, missing his arm, managed to jump on an MTA bus, where he demanded a MetroCard. Just then, Pierre yanked the teenager off the bus and told the driver he'd robbed him.
Sam escaped again and ran home, where he collapsed, police said.
An ambulance took Sam — and his severed arm — to a nearby hospital. Sam is in serious but stable condition. It was not immediately clear whether doctors were attempting to reattach his arm.
