Harlem buisness owner guns down 4 robbers

[jimmy olsen]

 Frontier justice

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2009/08/14/2009-08-14_harlem_business_owner_charles_gus_augusto_opens_shop_day_after_fatally_shooting_.html

Harlem business owner Charles (Gus) Augusto opens shop day after fatally shooting two robbers

BY Barry Paddock, Alison Gendar and Corky Siemaszko
DAILY NEWS WRITERS

Updated Saturday, August 15th 2009, 2:53 AM

The Harlem businessman who blasted a gang of robbers with a shotgun as they terrorized his staff said Friday, "I had no choice."

"They were probably going to work us all over," Charles (Gus) Augusto told the Daily News. "You know me - I'm not going to take anything lying down."

Surveying the spattered blood and shotgun pellet holes in the door of his store, Augusto said he didn't want to pull the trigger and kill two of the four invaders.

"I would have been happy if they'd all run out the door," he said. "I'm sick to my stomach over it."

Augusto, 72, insisted he told the gunman who'd just pistol-whipped his clerk to clear out, but the bandit just wouldn't listen.

"I'm sad I couldn't talk him out of it," he said. "I'm sad there's mothers and fathers with no sons today."

Augusto said he has some idea what they must be feeling because his son, Charles, killed himself with a gun a dozen years ago, and "the pain never goes away."

"I don't feel like a hero," he added. "I would have felt like a hero if I could have talked that kid into going home."

Outside the store, clerk Toxie (JB) Hall - still seething over being beaten by the thugs - kicked aside a votive candle passerby Maria Ceballos had lit for the dead men.

"Have a heart," said Ceballos, 54, who insisted she didn't know the dead hoods but, as a Catholic, had sympathy for all.

"F--k 'em," Hall barked.

The tragedy began at 3 p.m. Thursday when four thieves burst into the Blue Flame, a restaurant-supply business on W.125th St. near Amsterdam Ave.

They apparently hadn't noticed the words "Abandon all hope ye who enter here" that some joker had written in black marker over the front door.

In his first interview since the shooting, Augusto told The News what had happened before he reached for his 12-gauge shotgun and began firing.

"I'm sitting here minding my own business and they come in," he said. "Next thing I look, and there's a kid standing there with a gun pointed at [secretary Dorothy Hunt] wanting to know where the cash was."

Police identified the gunman as James Morgan, 29, of Manhattan, a convicted drug dealer. The other robbers - all of them 21 years old - were unarmed.

While one suspect beat Hall, Morgan waved his gun at Augusto and Hunt and demanded, "Where's the cash?"

"I told this kid, 'We don't have any money,'" Augusto said.

"I asked him, 'Why don't you just put your gun down and go home, and we'll forget about this thing? Someone's gonna get hurt. There's no money - you're gonna get in trouble. You're wasting your time.'"

Augusto said for a second he thought he'd gotten through to him. But then another robber told Morgan to ignore Augusto and resumed pounding Hall.

It was then that Augusto reached for the shotgun he had bought two decades ago - and hoped he'd never have to use.

"They were beating up on JB, so I shot them," Augusto said.

Morgan and Raylin Footmon of Manhattan were killed, police said.

Bernard Witherspoon of Manhattan and Shamel McCloud of Queens staggered outside the store and were nabbed by cops. They were treated at St.Luke's Hospital and have been charged with robbery.

Morgan's mother insisted Friday, "He was a good man and a wonderful son" who worked as a construction worker.

"He didn't have to shoot him in the back," said the mom, who declined to give her name. "It was a homicide. It was murder. It's on his conscience."

The brother of the other dead man said Footmon was "a decent man."

"He was a good man. He was loved and he loved a lot of people," said the man who refused to give his name.

At McCloud's home, a family friend insisted he was no thug and said he was planning to attend college in the fall. He said he didn't know how McCloud hooked up with the Harlem guys and then shut the door.

At the Blue Flame, Hall, 35, said the foursome got what they deserved - and had nothing but praise for his brave boss.

"I worked for that guy since I was 19," he said. "He looked after me tremendously. Gus is a good dude."

Born in Yonkers, Augusto said he is a father of two other children and has been married for 48 years. A registered Republican, he said he learned how to handle a gun while serving in the Coast Guard.

While Augusto's store is far from swanky, a police source said, "He did a large cash business." He earns enough to have an $880,000 mansion in a secluded Westchester County neighborhood.

Police said Augusto did not have a permit for the shotgun, but he would not be charged with a crime.

"It was sitting there for 20 years - I didn't know if it was gonna work," he said.

[Ed Anger]

 

[DisturbedPervert]

[Ancient Demon]

 

[Strix]

"He didn't have to shoot him in the back," said the mom, who declined to give her name. "It was a homicide. It was murder. It's on his conscience."

And your son didn't have to be robbing the store and be a part of the pistol whipping of an employee of the store. I just hope the security camera caught the "OH SHIT!" expression on the kids face before he turned and ran when the old guy brought out the shotgun.

[Razgovory]

Well this will keep Al Sharpton busy for the next few weeks.

[DGuller]

The store owner is lucky New York has a moratorium on death penalty, so he'll only go to prison for life.  New York City doesn't look kindly upon people shooting hard-working robbers to death.

[Valmy]

Morgan's mother insisted Friday, "He was a good man and a wonderful son" who worked as a construction worker.

I know she is his mother and all you got to one fucking enormous asshole to respond to your son breaking into a business and beating the employees by saying that shit.  That woman has no shame.

[Valmy]

The store owner is lucky New York has a moratorium on death penalty, so he'll only go to prison for life.  New York City doesn't look kindly upon people shooting hard-working robbers to death.

Police said Augusto did not have a permit for the shotgun, but he would not be charged with a crime.

[Kleves]

I know she is his mother and all you got to one fucking enormous asshole to respond to your son breaking into a business and beating the employees by saying that shit.  That woman has no shame.

Seems pretty standard stuff for a mother to say.

[The Brain]

Is this... Augusto??!?

Welcome back, Lord!

[Tonitrus]

I know she is his mother and all you got to one fucking enormous asshole to respond to your son breaking into a business and beating the employees by saying that shit.  That woman has no shame.

Seems pretty standard stuff for a mother to say.

Indeed, this is the same reason the public school system is a wreck.

[Faeelin]

Sorry, you attack somebody and have a gun, I don't care if you're looking the other way.

[grumbler]

Sorry, you attack somebody and have a gun, I don't care if you're looking the other way.

In fact, only a moron does NOT shoot in the back under such circumstances, given a choice.  If I decided that deadly force was necessary, I'd much prefer that my target turned away from me, and wouldn't for a second entertain the thought that I should allow him to face me and maybe get off a shot.

[HVC]

While Augusto's store is far from swanky, a police source said, "He did a large cash business." He earns enough to have an $880,000 mansion in a secluded Westchester County neighborhood.

Well now he's going to get robbed a few more times. fucking reporters. i hope these three die horrible deaths.