.38 Caliber-Toting 'Subway Vigilante' Whose Self-Defense Shooting Claim Made Headlines in 1980s Is Busted for Alleged Pot Sale

Story by the Associated Press; curated by Dave Urbanski

NEW YORK (AP) — Bernhard Goetz, the .38 caliber-toting "Subway Vigilante" acquitted of attempted murder in the 1980s after shooting four black youths he said were trying to mug him on a Manhattan subway train, is facing drug charges after allegedly selling marijuana to an undercover officer.

Goetz, now 65, was arraigned on misdemeanor drug charges Saturday in Manhattan Criminal Court and released on his own recognizance; he's due back in court next month. His lawyer couldn't immediately be reached for comment.

Bernhard Goetz (Image source: YouTube raw video)

A criminal complaint says Goetz was arrested Friday evening in Union Square after giving an undercover police officer a napkin with loose marijuana in exchange for money. The complaint says Goetz also had more pot in his pocket.

Goetz made national headlines after shooting four black youths in what he said was self-defense amid a robbery on a Manhattan subway train. Goetz fired five shots at Darrell Cabey, Barry Allen, Troy Canty and James Ramseur — who was carrying a screwdriver, officials said at the time — on Dec. 22, 1984.

All four teens were hit, and Cabey was left paralyzed, the New York Daily News reported. The teens said they asked $5 from Goetz, who who had been mugged on a train three years earlier and began carrying the .38 caliber Smith & Wesson he used in the shooting as a result.

A jury acquitted Goetz of attempted murder charges but convicted him of weapons charges, for which he spent 250 days in jail.

Here's a New York City TV news report (WNBC) from the night Goetz shot the four teens:

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