Suspect Finds Himself On Losing End Of Brooklyn Armed Robbery

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A Brooklyn florist turned the tables on a would-be robber who pointed a gun at his head.

As CBS2's Matt Kozar reported, the bold move could have cost him his life.

Florist Moti Azrael is no daisy.

He held down an armed man who tried to rob him inside of his flower shop on Avenue J in Mapleton, Brooklyn.

"The guy is lucky. I had a right to kill him. After a few seconds of the gun on my head I can shoot him because he came to kill me," Azrael said.

The armed man walked into the flower shop around Friday evening around 6, and asked how much roses cost.

That's when Azrael said the man pulled out a .22-caliber gun, held it to his head and demanded cash.

"As soon as he lost eye contact, I knew I got him," Azrael said.

Azrael served in the Israeli Military. He wrestled the revolver away from the 33-year-old suspect who is now in custody.

"He was right, because I had the right to chop his head off," he said.

The suspect is lucky Azrael could not reach his machete or may not have made it out the flower shop in one piece.

The incident spooked Illeen Lopez who works across the street.

"Now I'm locking the door," she said.

She said it's the second robbery in the mostly commercial Brooklyn neighborhood in recent weeks.

As for the crime-fighting florist.

"We were working all week to prepare for Friday. When the police came, they shut the store so we cannot sell no flowers," he said.

Police said they were running tests to determine if the gun was used in other crimes.