Cops are searching for two robbers who shot a marijuana dealer and his stepfather in Queens early Tuesday morning in a drug deal gone wrong, police said.
According to Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny, 28-year-old Daniel Ackerman allegedly met with two unidentified men inside the lobby of a Fresh Meadows apartment complex located at 162-01 71 Avenue just before 1 a.m. to make a drug deal. However, instead of trading marijuana for cash, the individuals traded blows.
The two men reportedly refused to pay for the cannabis and attempted to take it by force, leading to a fight that ended in gunfire.
“He’s a self-admitted marijuana dealer. He had a buy set up with an unknown customer during the transaction in the lobby of the location. It gets physical as they tried to steal two ounces of marijuana from him,” Chief Kenny said.
Ackerman apparently got the upper hand in the struggle when one of the robbers shot him in the back. Cops say his 61-year-old stepfather heard the chaos and rushed to his son’s aid when he was also shot, this bullet striking him in the forearm.
“He hears the struggle, he hears the first shot. He comes to assist his stepson and gets shot,” Chief Kenny said.
Both men were rushed to hospital and are expected to survive their wounds. Cops say they don’t believe the stepfather was a part of the drug dealing business.
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