Smithtown, New York



From Long Island’s Newsday of August 16, 2004

Robbery foiled



An adult video store clerk shot a robber in the arm, and then himself in the hand, while fending off the assailant who came in demanding money Saturday afternoon, Suffolk police said.



John McMurray was working at the store on Jericho Turnpike at about 4:30 p.m. when a man armed with a metal pipe arrived, police spokesman Officer Sonny Di Stefano said.



McMurray, 67, of Bohemia, gave the man, Stanley Hagzan, 50, of 29 Johnson Ave. in Kings Park, some cash. Hagzan then tied up McMurray, Di Stefano said.



The clerk was soon able to free himself and then reached for his licensed revolver and shot at Hagzan. Hagzan swung a pipe at McMurray when he realized the clerk was no longer tied up, Di Stefano said.



McMurray told police he wasn't sure if he had hit him, and that Hagzan fled in a vehicle. McMurray, who accidentally shot himself in the hand, was taken to St. Catherine of Siena Medical Center in Smithtown, where he was treated and released.



Meanwhile, someone drove Hagzan to the same hospital, where officials contacted police just before 5 p.m. saying that they were treating someone with a gunshot wound to his right arm, Di Stefano said.



Police arrested Hagzan after McMurray identified him as the robber. Hagzan was charged with first-degree robbery. Because he was being held at the hospital, his arraignment was postponed yesterday, court officials said.

…

Di Stefano said there would be no criminal charges against McMurray because he was acting in self-defense.