April 12, 2004
Getting Shot Twice for His Nokia 3390
Yesterday morning at 7AM, a 26 year-old Lower East Side resident was shot twice on the Willamburg Bridge while biking to work - for his cellphone! Marcin Muchalski, a photographer and waiter, was headed to work at the Southside Lounge in Williamsburg when a man robbed him. Muchalski refused to give up his cellphone, a blue Nokia 3390, which led the robber to shoot him in the leg. Muchalski continued to argue, saying, "Hey, man, I'm a hard-working guy. I don't make much money. I don't have money on me. Let me go," prompting the robber to hit him on the head and shoot him in the arm. Muchalski managed to
Now Gothamist knows what it's like to have a serious connection with our cellphone - there are so many phone numbers in there. But when a gun is being waved at our face, we'd probably give it up - would you?
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sheesh, that's not even a nice phone!
... and you think they'd rob for a better cellphone! (yeah, someone had to say it)
I might fight for my life if I owned a Treo.
totally- my samsung a500 isn't worth dying for- but a treo600- it might not be worth living if i lost that.
i am impressed that the guy who got shot still managed to ride his bike over the bridge with a bullet in his leg and arm. i can't even keep biking if i get a friggin charlie horse.
Totally Doug and Jake, I'd carry a gun if I had a Treo600, it'd be worth it to go to jail than losing the Treo.
This recalls the slayings of Chinese restaurant deliverymen for food, money to buy trendy sneakers, a few dollars, etc. And they followed the instructions of their assailants, who did not want witnesses! What can we do? We must think about this.
Burt H.
i think what Marcin Muchalski did sounds pretty dumb, but at least he's got the good sense to be on GSM. meanwhile, not only is the 3390 not a flashy phone, at this point, Julius Griffin, 47, of Ozone Park, Queens, probably could have _made_ money from one of the various carriers for being willing to take a mobile that doesn't play polyphonic ringtones and have a built-in camera/mp3player/daytimer.
Note to self: find new bridge to jog on.
i guess the guy didn't have an insurance.
So Stupid. Buy the damn phone insurance for god's sake. Its only 4 bucks a month!
He's lucky hes not dead. Even the robber knew the phone wasent worth killing him.
hand it over...it's what insurance is for.
On the one hand, only a asshole lets himself get shot over a cellphone. But on the other, you gotta’ give him credit, he sounds like one tough son of a bitch! Getting shot twice and managing to pedal away like that. He's right up there with 50 Cent as far as I'm concerned.
Even though it may not have been the best phone, there is still a principle.
Just for the record, the guy ran away on foot not riding his bike:
"Terrified that the man would shoot him in the back, Mr. Muchalski ran in a frantic zigzag pattern, he said. "I thought it might be my last moment," he said. The man chased him, but then turned back for the bicycle. It had a flat tire, apparently hit by a ricocheting bullet, Mr. Muchalski said the police told him."
The police later found the guy who shot him with the bicycle.
Thanks for clearing that up. When I read "run away in zigzag" I thought of running away in the broad sense, like getting away. And the zigzag confused me more.
Interestingly, a zigzag pattern is also how you're supposed to run away if you're being pursued by an alligator/crocodile. They can run faster than humans, but they have trouble turning sharp corners.
Marcin is a friend of mine. It is weird to read about someone you know in the news, I'm just glad he is doing fine! He is such a great person.
Can't these motherfuckers rob the people who deserve it? If I was going to rob someone, it would definately be one of these landrover, explorer driving SoB's.
I guess all the compentent criminals went to the corporate sector.
Who knows how I would react with a gun pointed in my face... but:
This phone is worth about $16, including the charger. ( http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=64355&item=3087306650&rd=1 )
How much is his time at Bellevue going to cost?
Off topic: Why would anyone think it's worth even $4 a month to buy insurance for it? By the way, the insurance most likely has a deductible of $30 or more.
Matt
no matter how tricked up the new phones are, I keep going back to my banged-up, champagne Nokia 3360. I don't need the other crap - I just need to make calls, dammit - and no other phone has the near-perfect UI as this badboy.
I do NOT recommend anything Samsung. What horrid pieces of crap. When I want to hang up a call, either because I'm done or in disgust, it feels so much more effective to be able to hit one button. My old Samsung required me to hit the End button up to 3 times before my conversation was actually over, and each time with a significant delay between pushes. By the time I was done, I was no longer pissed off!
I jog on the Williamsburg Bridge regularly and I often pass scary looking folks. I rarely see the police on the bridge, unlike the Brooklyn Bridge which always seems well protected.
This incident certainly raises the issue of whether the East River bridges are safe for bikers, runners, walkers, etc.
Did anyone SEE the guy that shot him? Fricken scary looking, man! Forget the gun! Not only would I have given him my cell phone, I would have given him my friggin SOUL if he asked. Damn, that kid was brave AND stupid.
The man almost lost his life and you are still
talking about stupid cell phones, I can't understend you people, I dont think that any of you could say "you must be kidding" with gun set to your face :)
No coz, jestescie po prostu skonczonymi glupkami... brak mi slow... najwiekszy glupol z Polski jest madrzejszy od Was... Pozdrawiam Jennifer:) Marcin to moj kumpel ze szkoly i ciesze sie, ze zyje...
OK guys,
I happen to know Marcin. The media once again is not quite giving the whole picture. He though it was a fake gun! If you're a tough guy and a fast runner, and someone puts a fake gun up to you, and you think you can make it out of there, would you give up your phone.....? The very same phone you're going to call 911 and get the assailant's ass in jail?
After the second bullet was fired he would have given him everything! Instead he started to run!
The whole situation is a lot more understandable than the headlines...duh!
The second thing is that he from beginning already tried to call police and say where
he is. I've talked to him and he forgot about
that when he was talking to journalists.
People dont understand what happend.
If he would give his cell phone another
person could be wounded or dead.
yeah!
The guy almost lost his life. I'm glad he's ok though and whats this talk about the 3390. It's a good phone, I broke the screen on my 3660 or what ever that peice of crap was and I don't wanna think about what happened to my brothers Treo.