SOUTH WILLIAMSBURG — A man who turned down a request to give a stranger a cigarette last week ended up with a fake gun in his face in an attempted robbery, police said.
The victim, 37, said he was walking and talking on his cellphone on Broadway near Hewes Street around 2:50 a.m. Aug. 26 when a man sitting at a bus stop asked for 50 cents and a smoke, police said.
When the victim said 'No,' the man asked for the victim's cellphone, pulled out an air gun and pointed it at the victim's face, saying "You are lucky, I was about to rob you," according to police and a criminal complaint.
The suspect then fled without taking any property, police and the complaint said.
He was arrested and hit with six charges, including attempted robbery, menacing, harassment and sale or possession of a toy or imitation firearm.