"He felt the stinging and he thought he was going to die," a translator for Randy Almanzar said.
In a flash, Almanzar found himself in the midst of a fierce fight with a would-be robber.
The guy had come into the J & J Deli and told Randy he wanted some beer.
Randy stooped over to show him the beer. That's when the Dominican native, who doesn't speak English, says he was shocked.
"He stung him with something electric on his neck. A stun gun," the translator said.
You can still see the marks on his neck. Somehow, though, he struggled to his feet, ran behind the counter, grabbed a baseball bat and chased the guy.
"He confronted him with a bat. He was trying to scare the girls with the stun gun," said the translator.
"I know it's dangerous, but sometimes, at that moment, you don't think about that," Jessica, another clerk who was not working at the time, said.
As the guy started backing up toward the door, Randy took off a shoe and threw it at him.
"He's brave. He's a brave guy. He did a good job. He did his job. He did what he's supposed to do," Jessica said.
The suspect ran out the door, took off down the street with Randy in hot pursuit still waving the bat.
"(Randy) didn't give him time to do nothing. He raced from over there, grabbed the bat and came over here," the translator explained.
No one was hurt. And the thief?
Police eventually caught the alleged bad guy on Stuyvesant Avenue.
Vincent Johnson, 41, was charge with attempted robbery, assault, menacing, harassment and criminal possession of a weapon. He was held on $4,000 bail.
---
Do you have something to add to this story? Click here to contact Eyewitness News.
