Francisco Puebla was standing near the doorway of the hardware shop he manages in the East Village when he saw the city’s most wanted man stroll by. Frank James, the prime suspect in a mass shooting that occurred just the day before, was wandering along a busy New York street.
“I saw him and my eyes just went right to his face. Yeah it’s him,” Mr Puebla, a 46-year-old father of two, told The Independent.
It had been more than 24 hours since someone matching Mr James’ description opened fire on a busy subway train in Brooklyn, injuring at least 23 people and bringing chaos to the city during rush hour.
The NYPD first named 62-year-old Mr James as a person of interest, and then a suspect. By the time Mr Puebla spotted him, a citywide manhunt was underway and his photograph was plastered on every news channel.
Mr Puebla turned to the two people with him, Zach Tahhan and Mohammed Cheikh, who were there to install new security cameras in the shop, and asked them to confirm the sighting.
“He pulled out his cellphone and pulled out pictures and said ‘Yeah this is the one,’” Mr Puebla said of Mr Tahhan.
One of the three suggested that they call the police hotline for tips related to the manhunt, but Mr Puebla was unsure.
“I said no I’m not gonna call because I’m not 100 per cent it’s him. I don’t want to put this person in trouble if I’m not 100 per cent sure,” he said.
While they were deliberating, a police car stopped at a red light right outside the shop and Mr Puebla sprang into action.
“I didn’t think twice. I just ran to the police car. I told the police officer what I saw. They said, ‘no problem, we’ll take care of it.’ They went right after him to the next block. That’s how they got him,” Mr Puebla said.
Soon after the police detained Mr James, social media lit up with news of his capture. Mr Tahhan, a 21-year-old Syrian who came to the US five years ago and now lives in New Jersey, gave an energetic recounting of his own role in the capture.
While Mr Puebla was alerting police, Mr Tahhan said he followed Mr James and warned people to keep their distance.
“People think I am crazy, like maybe I am on drugs. But I’m not. I’m fasting,” he said, in reference to his observation of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
The police also said that they received a tip that Mr James had been in a McDonald’s just down the block from where he was apprehended, possibly from Mr James himself. According to ABC New York, citing police sources, James called the NYPD, and told them he wanted to turn himself in.
"I think you’re looking for me," the caller reportedly said. "I’m seeing my picture all over the news and I’ll be around this McDonalds."
By the time police responded he was on the move, however. That was when he was spotted by Mr Puebla.
Mr James has been charged in federal court with terrorism offences, according to a letter sent to a judge by Breon Peace, US attorney for the Eastern District of New York.
"The defendant committed a premediated mass shooting on the New York City subway system and then fled the scene, with a stockpile of ammunition and other dangerous items stowed in his storage unit. The defendant presents a severe and ongoing danger to the community, as well as a serious risk of flight, that no set of release conditions can mitigate," the letter submitted by Mr Peace reads.
Mr Puebla, who moved to the United States from Mexico 25 years ago and has been working for Saifee Hardware & Garden in Manhattan for 19 years, said he was glad he stepped in when he did.
“He has to pay for what he did. So many families got hurt.”
