A Queens bodega owner armed with a machete sliced two fingers off an armed robber yesterday, cops said.
“He had a gun and I took him out,” said store owner Johan Marte, 45, who was behind the counter at Erick Deli Grocery in Woodhaven when the bandit came in around 5 p.m.
He fired two shots – which did not strike Marte – then demanded cash, police said.
“He was covered with something on his face,” said a 19-year-old witness. The owner pulled out a machete and started swinging at him.”
Marte, who kept the machete near the counter, struck the 28-year-old robber several times,
“I cut his hand, I cut his finger, I cut everything,” he said. “When the guy has a gun and you have a machete, it isn’t easy.”
The unidentified robber was taken to Jamaica Hospital in serious condition.
A gun was recovered at the scene and charges were pending against the robber.
There was no immediate word as to whether Marte would be charged.
But his daughter, Fanny, 20, insisted he did nothing wrong.
” I would’ve done the same thing,” she said.
The daughter described Marte as “brave,” but a “very calm person,” who’s been threatened before.
He emigrated from the Dominican Republic 20 years ago and saved up to buy the store last year.
“My father worked very hard to get the store,” she said.
Additional Reporting by Perry Chiaramonte