Driver With Ivy League Pedigree Arrested In Guard-Shoplifter Confrontation

The police have arrested the man who was driving the getaway van that injured a Queens security guard. Guard Awali Khouroupra (pictured) had chased shoplifters into the van and held onto the van's door. The shoplifters kicked him as the van dragged him for a block.

Though Khouroupra was seriously injured, he managed to write down the license plate number of the van. The Daily News reports the suspected driver, Philip Zabriskie, told the police he went to Exeter, where he was a lacrosse player and elected class president, and later graduated from Yale: He "told cops about the rarefied world where he spent his early years, before drugs put him on the road to ruin, sources said."

The News called Zabriskie an "alleged wheelman" and says that the 52-year-old's former Exeter classmates were shocked. One said, "He was incredibly smart. He could do anything he wanted to do. I don't know what happened. ... I just don't know him as that person. The person I know was class president, a person liked by everyone." Zabriski was charged with first-degree robbery, assault and leaving the scene of an accident. Khouroupra is still in critical condition at Mary Immaculate Hospital.

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By Jen Chung in News on May 16, 2007 8:00 AM

Comments [rss]

Ginger Tolentinas

Is that guy is a real shop lifter? he looks gangster.

Warm Regards,
Ginger Tolentinas
Exeter Hotels

bruce102

I am 35 years out of Exeter and knew Zabriskie there -- he was two years ahead of me. He was a smart, well-liked guy, a leader on campus with a great future ahead of him. This story is very sad from all sorts of angles -- the security guard AND Zabriskie -- and I am appalled at the little snot-noses who think otherwise.

Zabriskie first developed a drug problem at Yale, from what I have heard.

Exeter02

Exeter produces exceptional people in every walk of life. Some stand out for their overwhelming productivity, others for their ludicrous behavior. This guy is clearly one of the latter types.

Regardless, I'll go to my five-year reunion this weekend, enjoy it and be proud; Exeter remains the best secondary school in the world.

jtg

Nothing good has ever come out of Exeter, and that includes both Win Butler and my ex-girlfriend.

Schadenfreudian Mensch

Training? You mean there's training involved when you're a lowly security guard at a 3rd rate clothing store?

pdk

was he the son of this philip?

webscript.princeton.edu/~paw/m...

rogerbix

Couldn't he have written down the license plate number BEFORE he stupidly risked his life for his boss' property, which was probably insured? Who trained this guy?