Thursday, April 2, 2009

'THUG' TAKES $HOT AT GUN GRANNY:By AUSTIN FENNER

Pistol-packing granny, who shot a man she accused of mugging her in her wheelchair, wishes she had finished the job -- because now, he's suing her for millions.

"I'm a peaceful person. I wish that I had killed him," said Margaret Johnson, 59, whose grandfather, Ellsworth "Bumpy" Johnson, once ruled Harlem's underworld and was immortalized in several hit movies.

"I didn't think you had to pay to get mugged in New York City," she added.

Johnson and her landlord, the Lenox Terrace apartment complex, are being sued for $5 million by Deron Johnson, 48, a man with a lengthy rap sheet.

Margaret Johnson, a retired city bus driver who has a dislocated hip and a ruptured disc, said that in September 2006, she was sitting in her motorized wheelchair at Lenox Avenue and 133rd Street when Johnson tried to snatch her purse and gold chain.

She pulled out her licensed .357 Magnum and fired a round into his left elbow. Cops grabbed him moments later.

At trial, Deron Johnson, who has nine previous arrests, denied being a mugger.

He said he kicked the woman's Shih Tzu, Malika, after it attacked him, and the gun-loving granny shot him.

He was acquitted.

Johnson's grandfather was a Harlem crime lord who inspired the character, Bumpy Jonas, in the 1971 cult classic "Shaft."

He was also the inspiration for characters in "The Cotton Club" and "American Gangster."

The real-life Bumpy, who was once an inmate at Alcatraz, is famous for his battle with gangster Dutch Shultz for control of the Harlem numbers racket.

An original dapper don, he was known for his tailored suits and big handouts to the poor.

"He raised me like his daughter. I wanted to be just like Daddy. It made me a strong woman," said Margaret Johnson.

She is not bashful about her love of guns, especially the .357 Magnum.

"I love that gun. It's so powerful," she said. "I don't know too many women who can handle that gun. I almost fell on my butt when I first fired it."

Margaret Johnson and Deron Johnson are scheduled to have a staredown on April 8 when his lawyer, Craig Davidowitz, takes a deposition from her.

Davidowitz said his client suffered permanent nerve damage from the shooting.

"What's grandma doing walking the streets with a loaded gun?" the lawyer said, claiming that Lenox Terrace failed to protect his client.

"They should have known they had a tenant walking around with a loaded weapon," he said.

Johnson, who once owned an Uzi submachine gun, said she can't afford to hire a lawyer.

"I'm not spending a dime on that son-of-a-bitch," she said. "This boils my blood. Why is he picking on me again?"

No comments:

Post a Comment