A Bronx man, defending his girlfriend during a stick-up outside their apartment, survived three point-blank gunshots during a fight with three ski-masked bandits. Click below to find out more.
The trio of robbers was lying in wait when Jahmai Samuel and Alessia Velez returned to their apartment Friday night from their jobs at the Westchester County Fair, police and family members said.
Samuel, 27, was shot twice in the chest and once in the jaw when he came to Velez’s defense — and amazingly survived.
He was listed in stable condition after undergoing surgery at Jacobi Medical Center, and was able to speak with Velez’s dad after the shooting.
“Thank God he’s alive,†said Ray Velez, 65. “He’s got three bullets in him, it could have been a lot worse.â€
All three suspects remained at large after the 10:30 p.m. shooting on Eastchester Road in the Laconia section.
According to Velez, his daughter and Samuel were working as managers at the fair and returned home with about $2,000 in their BMW.
As the couple walked toward the staircase to their apartment, the trio of robbers emerged from the darkness and took the cash. Samuel surrendered the cash, but fought back when their demands escalated, Velez said.
“They wanted to get inside the apartment,†Velez said. “But he didn’t want to let them, and they had my daughter’s head down on the ground and he didn’t like it.
“So he started fighting with them, and they shot him.â€
Samuel told Velez that he had spotted a strange car with tinted windows parked near the apartment about three days ago, leading him to believe the attack was well-planned.
Alessia Velez, 27, was not seriously injured in the stick-up and stayed at the apartment to provide police with her account of what happened, her dad said.
