A barefoot man wielding a machete allegedly chased two livery cab drivers down a Queens street early Sunday morning, after robbing one of them of $50 and a laptop. The suspect ended up cutting his own hand with the blade, and was hospitalized following his arrest.
Cab driver Santos Carraco picked up the suspect, 25-year-old Cloyd Clark, just before 8:00 a.m. on Sunday in Ozone Park. According to the Post, Clark initially refused to get out of the front seat of the cab. As Carraco asked him repeatedly to leave, he grabbed $50 in cash and Carraco's laptop, and bolted from the car.
Clark then hailed a second cab, and asked to be driven to his home in Woodhaven, near the intersection of 115th Street and 95th Avenue. According to NBC, the second driver became wary and radioed for backup. A small group of livery drivers, including Carraco, drove to Woodhaven to meet the cab.
Confronted by Carraco, Clark initially agreed to return the stolen possessions, which he claimed were inside his home. Witnesses say he then went inside, and emerged with a machete.
"It was crazy to wake up to that," one witness told the Post. "The guy was running in his barefeet with a machete. He was just a crazy man. He was saying he was defending himself, but everyone was running from him."
Video of the arrest acquired by the Post shows Clark insisting, "I'm trying to protect myself, I'm the one that's blooded up... All I'm trying to do is scare him off, that's it."
Cops reportedly tackled Clark, who cut his own hand with the machete. The suspect was taken to Jamaica Hospital for treatment, and charges are pending.
