Store Owner Fends Off Robbery With Machete
BY LIZ GOFF

A Queens bodega owner took a slice out of crime last week by using a machete to nail an armed thug will not face criminal charges, authorities said.

Johan Marte, 46, owner of Erick Grocery in Woodhaven said the armed thief burst into the bodega with guns blazing on November 8. "He had a gun and I took him out," said Marte, who was working alone behind the counter when Omar Rodriguez, 27, came into the store at about 5 p.m.

Rodriguez fired two rounds, neither of which struck Marte, police said. But the heartless thug soon found out he was no match for the storeowner- or his machete.

Eyewitnesses told investigators Rodriguez had his face covered when he burst into the bodega. "It was like being in a movie," said a 19-year-old witness. "The store owner pulled a machete from under the counter and started hacking the guy. He got him a couple of times," the teen said. "The guy was covered in blood."

Marte said, "He came running into the store with the gun, so I grabbed my machete and we went to war." When I came down on him with the machete he started saying, "Please don't kill me. I was aiming for the gun," said Marte. "As soon as I saw the gun I started swinging."

When the smoke cleared, Marte had sliced off Rodriguez' trigger finger and part of his ear, police said.

According to police, "The guy was begging the store owner to call 911. He went in to steal cash at any cost. This guy wouldn't have thought twice about killing the store owner to get what he wanted."

Police recovered a loaded .40-caliber semiautomatic pistol at the scene, authorities said.

Rodriguez was taken to Jamaica Hospital Center, where he remains listed in serious condition. He was later charged with attempted murder, robbery and criminal possession of a weapon.

Local lawmakers have been calling for a series of safeguards for local storeowners, including "panic buttons" that connects directly to local precincts.

Neighborhood residents hailed Marte as a hero, saying, "He did what he had to do to protect himself. What should he have done? If he didn't fight back, he might have been killed like those other bodega owners."

Marte said he doesn't want to be branded as a killer, or someone who doesn't understand the possible consequences of fighting back. "I saw the gun and I reacted. I cut his finger, I cut his hand, I just kept cutting. When a guy walks in with a gun and fires it at you, and you have a machete, you do what you've gotta do to survive."

Married and a father of four, Marte immigrated to the United States from the Dominican Republic some 23 years ago. He and his wife worked and saved to buy the bodega, which they opened in 2006, Marte said.