LOCAL : Man’s Pocket Radio Stops Bullet
A pocket radio stopped a bullet fired point-blank at a mugging victim’s chest early today, police said.
Gary Lee, 24, was in a telephone booth at Gage Avenue and Broadway about 1:10 a.m. calling for help after his car broke down when he was approached by two young men, one carrying a handgun, Sgt. Doug Tantee said.
“They asked him for his wallet and he complied,” Tantee said. “Nevertheless, the one with a gun put it right up over the left side of his chest, right over the heart, and fired once.”
Lee reeled from the impact and collapsed to the sidewalk, thinking he had been gravely wounded. But when paramedics ripped off his shirt, they found no wounds. On closer inspection, they found the slug embedded in the radio in his jacket’s left breast pocket, Tantee said.
Lee, a security guard, was unharmed.
The assailants, described as 18 to 20 years old, escaped with the wallet, which contained $100, Tantee said.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
