By Tom Hays, The Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) - One moment, tourist Colin Webber was reluctantly shopping for jewelry with his wife. The next, he was tackling a suspect in a brutal stabbing. Then came the photo-op with the police commissioner.
The whirlwind day in the life of Webber - a burly police officer from Leicestershire, England - unfolded Tuesday on his first visit to Manhattan.
“It’s a bit overwhelming, really,” Webber, 37, said at a hastily arranged news conference at police headquarters.
Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly presented Webber with an award for his bravery a few hours before he was to hop on a flight home. The officer, wearing sweat pants and sneakers, accepted with a shrug.
The publicity, he quipped, “will probably cost me a round of beer” when he reports for duty on his regular beat.
Webber and his wife, Claire Webber, 38, who’s also a police officer, were in the city for a wedding. On the last afternoon of their visit, they decided to stroll down a bustling section of West 47th Street known as the Diamond District.
“My wife was trying to con me into buying her a diamond necklace,” Webber told reporters.
Her ploy was interrupted by the sound of a violent clash inside a jewelry outlet. Police said they believe two Russian men were arguing over a counterfeit watch when one pulled a knife and stabbed the other three times in the chest, then smashed a mirror over his head.
When the man with the knife tried to flee, the 6-foot-2 Webber instinctively tackled him and forced him to drop his weapon.
“There was really no time to think,” he said. “Someone said, `Grab him,’ and I did. ... I just took him down.”
The madness didn’t end there: After Webber subdued the suspect, friends of the victim began kicking the man in the head. Claire Webber was credited with keeping them at bay until local police officers arrived.
The alleged attacker was arrested and charged with attempted murder; the victim was in stable condition at a hospital.
After the dust settled, did Webber’s wife get her necklace?
“Not this trip,” he said.