WICKER PARK — A 26-year-old man was shot in his leg after an argument that started inside D&D Liquors at the corner of Damen Avenue and Division Street spilled into the street Monday night, the shop owner said Tuesday.
Nader "Danny" Yahya Jr. said the wounded man was an employee of Pita Cafe, one of the other shops in the strip mall anchored by the liquor store, who helped intervene after the argument turned violent.
"He's at home, out of the hospital, taking everything smoothly. My employee is all right, the police are investigating," said Yahya, who co-owns both the liquor store and cafe.
Police said a man entered the liquor store at 2006 W. Division St. around 10:30 p.m. Monday and got into an argument with the store clerk, who Yahya said is his brother, that escalated until the man pulled out a gun.
The argument spilled out onto the street, and then the gunman shot the 26-year-old in his left leg, police said.
The victim was taken to Stroger Hospital, where police did not release his condition but he was listed as "stable."
Yahya said the gunman got angry because the Remy Martin, a cognac, was not chilled and felt that the price was too high.
Yahya's brother got into an argument with the man, who then left the shop and went out to his parked car and came back with a gun.
"He was bitching about the pricing. His girlfriend said, 'Let's go, let's go.' He shot the first round into the liquor store before running out, Yahya said. The shot shattered some bottles but did not hurt anyone, Yahya said.
Then, Yahya and his brother went outside to try to block the man's car, which was parked with two women in it, Yahya said. He said his brother had a gun on him for protection as well as a concealed carry permit but did not use his gun.
Yahya said the worker from Pita Cafe, who was about go home for the night, came out to help block the car.
"We were all outside blocking the vehicle because we did not want it to move. The guy was across the street and saw us blocking his car and that's when he fired the second round of three or four shots. He ran away after the shooting," Yahya said.
Yahya said after police arrived, the two women who had been in the car with the gunmen claimed they did not know him, despite video footage in the parking lot capturing their car pulling into the lot with the gunman at the wheel.
Yahya said the entire incident is on video and police are reviewing the footage.
Police said Tuesday afternoon no one is in custody for the shooting but detectives were still investigating.
Last year, both Yahya and his father, Danny Yahya Sr., were injured when an irate customer came into the store and began to smash bottles of booze.
