i was stands on 5th avenue between 33rd and 34th street and saw the dead reporter: what did you see? he was just laying facedown. i didn t see his fay. he had on dress brown they didn t look like arm pants? they looked like dress pants? yes, they were. they came and put a sheet on him. reporter: also some kind of black bag near him? like at the top of his head, beside him. i don t know whether it was his bag or nod. reporter: as you re coming from penn station, what was the commotion like? it was final until i got to fifth avenue and i heard pop pop pop. and i just ran to my office. reporter: there s a wendy s right next to you. from what customers told me, people hit the deck. you ran? i ran. i ran. i ran. i ran.
harris-moore, the 19-year-old so-called bear foot bandit had apparently approached some people on harbor island. he was asking for assistance to try to leave the island, either to fly off oar by boat. those people refused. his fay is familiar because there are wanted signs all over the area and it s plastered on the area s television stations. authorities wouldn t say if he had a weapon, but the people said we re going to call police, we re not going to help you at all. instead they called the police. the police came, and after a short boat chase they were able to capture him. it s just strange that he would ask people for help. do you think he got help along the way? is that something that police believe may have helped him, you know, elude them for two years? reporter: well, you know, that s a good question. we know one friend had been helping him. we spoke exclusively to dateline nbc. here it s clear he was getting help. there were seven break-ins here