Bar owner recalls moment he found NY bombing suspect

A New Jersey bar owner says he was “shaken” upon recognizing the man suspected of several bombings over the weekend.

“I watched everything unfolding right in front of me,” Harinder Bains told host Chris Cuomo on CNN’s “New Day” Tuesday.

{mosads}“I realized right away that, ‘OK, this is the guy and that’s why it’s going on like this,’ ” the Linden, N.J., business owner added.

“When the guy started running towards Roosevelt Street, I even came out of the store and started yelling at the cop, ‘He’s the guy! He’s the guy you guys are looking for.’ ”

Police on Monday captured Ahmad Khan Rahami, 28, for questioning after a string of explosions last weekend.

A bomb first detonated early last Saturday along a charity race route in Seaside Park, N.J.

A second blast struck New York City’s Chelsea neighborhood that night, injuring 29 people.

Bains on Tuesday said he originally pitied Rahami before identifying the suspected bomber.

“There’s somebody sitting right in front of my bar in the vestibule, you know?” he said of Monday’s confrontation.

“He was tired; [it] looked like he was tired. I felt bad for him, initially, [as] in the rain he is like lodging around there.”

Bains said he alerted police to Rahami’s presence, which led to a shootout.

“Within 15–20 seconds, everything broke loose,” he said of the moment when multiple law officers found Rahami.

“[Rahami] put his hand on his gun and right away he shot through the glass panel. There are two bullet holes there.”

Rahami, a U.S. citizen who was born in Afghanistan, was apprehended after exchanging gunfire with police Monday.

One officer was shot in the vest during the standoff, while another was wounded in the hand.

Rahami, meanwhile, was shot multiple times before media broadcasts showed him getting loaded into an ambulance, apparently conscious.

Reports emerged late Monday that Rahami is now facing five counts of attempted murder for battling authorities.

Acting Union County Prosecutor Grace H. Park said that Rahami is also facing two second-degree counts related to possession of a handgun.