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by KAREN O'SHEA
Firefighters gave chase yesterday and a retired detective pulled a gun to stop an alleged robber armed with an ice pick on Victory Boulevard in Castleton Corners.
When the smoke finally cleared, Lt. Rich Kelly of Engine 163 was left with a badly fractured ankle and the alleged robber managed a brief escape before cops caught up with him in West Brighton.
A spokeswoman for St. Vincent's Medical Center would only say Kelly was in stable condition last night at the hospital. But a Fire Department source said Kelly had a compound fracture and underwent surgery.
The afternoon drama unfolded around 2:30 outside the Duane Reade on Victory Boulevard. Firefighters from Engine 163, who had been displaying equipment at a nearby block party as part of the department's "Operation Sidewalk," took to the sidewalk in pursuit of a man trying to flee from the Duane Reade on Victory Boulevard he had just robbed, police and fire department officials at the scene said.
Kelly and other firefighters were wearing their bunker gear when they gave chase, and Kelly tripped and fell while trying to tackle the man, who was riding a bicycle. Kelly joined a retired police detective and a security guard from the drug store in trying to stop the man.
James Vito, 35, escaped, but was arrested a short time later on his bicycle at the corner of Bement and Forest avenues by police from the 120th Precinct. He was charged with robbery and assault of a fire lieutenant, police said. No address for Vito was available last night.
The store manager for Duane Reade said Vito was caught shoplifting stacks of packaged gum. When a security guard brought the alleged thief to the rear of the store, he attempted to stab the guard with an ice pick before fleeing, said the manager, who was visibly shaken by yesterday's incident and declined to give her name.
The security guard then chased the man outside the store, where a retired detective headed to his real estate office saw both men wrestling.
Hal Blake said he went to his car to retrieve his gun. When he returned, he ordered both men on the ground. That's when the alleged robber took off on the bike and was pursued by firefighters, said Blake.
Kelly laid on a stretcher in the back of an ambulance yesterday, grimacing as he called his wife and told her he had hurt his ankle.
A police helicopter hovered above as cops searched for the man who started the dangerous ruckus.
"His ankle looked pretty bad," Frank Mattera, owner of Bagel Bistro on Victory Boulevard, said of Kelly.
Battalion Chief Dominick DeRubbio of the 22nd Battalion said he planned to recommend Kelly for a meritorious award.
"I'm very proud of them," DeRubbio, who was at the scene yesterday, said of the firefighters from Engine 163.
Advance reporter Tim Gray contributed to this report.
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