Cops: Teen Lost Arm After Trying to Steal Shoes

An eye for an eye... and an arm for a shoe? The NYPD says a 17-year-old in Brooklyn who stole a pair of Air Jordans at gunpoint lost an arm when the victim ran over the teenager and pinned him against a fence, PIX11 reports. The teen, identified as Zachary Sam, allegedly used Craigslist to arrange to meet 39-year-old Philip Pierre to buy the $190 sneakers, but instead pulled a gun when he got in Pierre's SUV. "He put the gun to his head and told him he would shoot him, that he will not make it home to his family," a relative tells NBC 4. Sam strolled off with the sneakers, but surveillance video shows he only made it 100 yards before Pierre did a U-turn and ran him down, police say.

According to PIX11, Sam tried to get on a bus after his arm was severed but Pierre pulled him off the vehicle in front of horrified passengers. The teen then ran around the corner to his home, where he collapsed. Pierre has been charged with attempted second-degree murder. A cousin tells ABC7 that the hard-working father of three was only trying to detain the teen for police. "I know what the video's showing—if somebody pulls a gun in your head, and you're trying to get the cops to catch him, what would you do?" he says. "You're telling me just let him go?" Sam's arm—and gun—were found at the scene. Doctors at Bellevue Hospital spent hours trying to reattach the limb, though it's not clear whether they succeeded. ABC7 reports that the teen will be going to jail when he gets out of the hospital. (More New York City stories.)