The crooks who robbed a 64-year-old for his television — but couldn't escape with the unwieldly flatscreen — shot the victim because his achy knee kept him from following their orders.
Three perps entered Bentley White's Cambria Heights home on Black Friday after spotting the retired mason loading a 47-inch TV and other items into a container he planned to ship to his vacation house in Jamaica. Once inside, the thieves demanded that White sit down, but when he struggled to get on the ground because of gout in his knee, one of the thieves shot him in the side, the Daily News reports. Despite gunshot wound — which exited through his stomach and narrowly missed a major artery — White lunged at the shooter and scratched him in the eye. According to White, the perp then yelled: "I'm going to blow your f---ing head off when this is over!"
When the thieves realized their getaway car was too small for the TV (which has since been returned to White), they went back to the house, grabbed cellphones, and cut the landline phone. On their way out, White's son, Philip, 20, wrestled the firearm away from the robbers. "Two ran away. The other began to beg for his life," White said. "My son couldn't shoot them and he knew I was hurting so they escaped." According to White, the perps were lucky that Philip was the one holding the gun: "I've never even killed a bird, but if I had gotten the gun, I would have shot all three of them."
