NYPD: Man leaps through window after stealing comic book in Times Square

Josh Einiger Image
Wednesday, October 11, 2017
Man leaps through window after stealing comic book
Josh Einiger has more from Midtown.

TIMES SQUARE, Manhattan (WABC) -- Talk about a 'Comic Con.' For one man at Midtown Comics at 40th Street and 7th Avenue, it did not end well.

The man was running wild around the second floor store, where police say he had been trying to shoplift comic books. When workers tried to stop him, he dove through a plate-glass window and tumbled to the sidewalk below.

The busy corner was lined with vendors and packed with pedestrians around 2:30 Tuesday afternoon.

Street vendor Demo Helim ran after him and kept him from getting far before police could arrive and take him, bloody, into custody.

It took police about an hour to bust out the remaining shards of glass and make the street safe. The man went to the hospital, his injuries remarkably minor.

He has been identified only as a 24-year-old homeless man. He is charged with criminal mischief, assault, criminal possession controlled substance and unlawful possession of marijuana