PUERTO PLATA, Dominican Republic -- Buffalo Sabres forward Paul Cyr and his girlfriend were described by police Sunday as heroes for fighting off three attackers in a hijacked taxi -- an incident in which Cyr suffered a gunshot wound in the side.
In his first description of the attack, Cyr, 22, told police in a statement that the incident took place about 9:30 p.m. Wednesday as he and his girlfriend, Cheryl Pera, were riding in a taxi from Puerto Plata, a resort city on the north coast of the Dominican Republic, to watch a weightlifting competition in Sosua, about 15 miles east.
Cyr said the taxi driver stopped at the site of an apparent traffic accident -- a bus had gone off the road into a field of sugar cane. When the taxi pulled over, however, it was seized by two men and a woman who had hijacked the bus and had forced it off the road to rob the passengers, Cyr said.
The attackers threw the driver into the back seat and one of them took the wheel and the taxi sped off through driving rain with the driver not using windshield wipers on the dark highway, according to Cyr's statement.
The female hijacker held a bayonet to Pera's throat and demanded her necklace. Cyr, a native of Vancouver, British Columbia, shoved the knife away.
One of the gunmen shoved an automatic pistol in Cyr's face and told him, 'The woman dies.'
Cyr, a left winger for the Sabres, told police he waited until the man relaxed, then Cyr grabbed the gun. Cyr jumped into the front seat and, as the men wrestled, a shot went through the floor of the cab. The driver then stopped the car.
The three attackers, Cyr, Pera and the driver left the car and the gunman tumbled into a roadside ditch.
In the melee, the would-be hijacker with the gun shot Cyr through the right side, the statement said. The man pulled the trigger again, but he had run out of bullets.
The two men and woman then fled in the taxi. Police said they later stole a van and robbed a gasoline station. They have not been arrested.
Puerto Plata police officers repeatedly described Cyr and Pera as heroes.
Cyr was taken to the Bournigal Clinic in Puerto Plata for treatment. A hospital spokesman said the bullet did not hit any internal organs and Cyr was was described Sunday as being in good condition and able to walk.
A hospital spokesman said he probably would be released Wednesday and would be able to play next season. Pera was uninjured in the attack and the taxi driver suffered a slight knife wound to his hand.
