NEW YORK — Zack Dahhan had one thing on his mind when he saw suspected subway shooter Frank James walking along an East Village sidewalk Wednesday afternoon: If someone doesn’t stop him, he’ll hurt more people.
So the 21-year-old security camera technician tried to warn everyone he saw, and then flagged down a police car.
“If you smoke one cigar, you’re gonna want to smoke two cigars, you know? Like, this guy is gonna do it again if we don’t catch him, and we catch him. Thank God!” he said.
Police arrested James on First Avenue and St. Mark’s Place in Manhattan, a day after cops allege he detonated two smoke bombs and started shooting at commuters on a subway in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. Ten people were hit and 13 others were injured.
Police sources are calling the arrest a group effort — a tipster called Crime Stoppers after seeing the 61-year-old suspect at a McDonald’s on 6th St. and First Ave., summoning 9th Precinct officers to the area. Cops were also looking at the possibility James called 911 on himself, the sources said.
NYPD Chief of Department Kenneth Corey said cops responding to the tip saw James walking on the street and arrested him without incident.
Dahhan’s role in the capture drew cheers as he recounted what happened to reporters and passers-by Wednesday afternoon. He said he recognized James’ face from an emergency alert on his phone, and started telling people, “That’s the guy, that’s the guy, he did the problem!”
Dahhan, a Brooklyn native, said he grew up in Syria during the Middle Eastern country’s horrific civil war and now lives in Union City, New Jersey.
“At first, I was so scared. Let’s catch him, we need to catch him. If we don’t catch him, maybe I die, maybe you die,” he said. “And we catch him.”
One man, who identified himself only as Rafael, said he was eating eggs outside a restaurant called the Wild Son and watched the scene unfold, noting James looked like he was charging his phone at a public charging station.
“I was just having lunch, and we were like ‘wait, there’s something off here.’ The commotion, and the guy (Zack) screaming, ‘That’s the guy, that’s the guy!’” he said.
Biglee Lloyd, 50, who owns a bar called the Hard Swallow, was having drinks in the sun with a buddy when he witnessed Frank’s arrest.
“It was five cop cars. That’s why I came out. Usually, I’m doing my daily operations at the bar. And I see five cop cars, especially after the state New York is in right now, especially after yesterday, I was like ‘oh my God, what’s happening now?’” he recalled. “We joked about, like, ‘They’re probably looking for Frank.’ We joked about it, and then we came out, and ‘Oh my God, it might be him. It might be Frank. It’s him.’”
The crowd grew as the officers took James into custody.
“I’m relieved. He actually is mentally unstable, and hopefully gets some treatment, and he’s off the streets. It makes my job of running the bar a little easier,” Lloyd said.
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