This New York Criminal Brought Pepper Spray to a Gun Battle

So let’s see…do you think the conversation with this brilliant would-be thief went something like this? . . .  “Hey, friend, let’s rob a gun store.” Friend says, “Hey, good idea. I’ll bring my pepper spray!”

Yeah. A Brooklyn gun shop owner, Frank Taormina, owner of DF Brothers Sports Center, saw a man walk in dressed like a construction worker. At about 10:45 in the morning he asked to “See the guns.”

Taormina asked to see the man’s gun permit. Then the would-be-thief hit Taormina with a blast of his pepper spray. The perpetrator then pulled out a sledgehammer and shattered a display case. He grabbed two pistols but at the same time Taormina had grabbed his own weapon and fired twice.

His shots bit the perp at least once, because he ran off with a trail of blood behind him. He got away, and cops believe there was a get-away vehicle waiting for him. The report did not say whether the thief made off with the two pistols he had grabbed or if he dropped them as he fled. Taormina was not injured but was shaken by the experience and had to deal with the unpleasant effects of being pepper sprayed.

Taormina was defending himself, and no charges against him for firing his weapon are expected.

Image caption:
Police believe the robber was wounded and left a blood trail as he ran off. (Todd Maisel/New York Daily News)

Image from nydailynews.com