After a long shift at the JFK International Airport as a baggage handler, a man, who remains nameless at the time, parked to grab his to-go order of Chinese food. Trusting his neighborhood, he left his 2015 Infiniti Q50 running at the curb. As he turned to get back in the car, he saw a stranger coming from the back of an SUV hop into the driver’s seat.

By the time he realized what was happening, it was too late. The man ran and grabbed onto the driver’s side door in an attempt to stop the thief. The thief, however, wasn’t about to go down without a fight. He continued driving, driving the vehicle’s owner down the street for four blocks, reported ABC.

Security cameras caught the thief intentionally sideswiping a parked car, knocking the owner onto the street. From there, medical personnel transported him to Jacobi Hospital, where he was diagnosed with head trauma and remains in critical condition. The leg that was dragged on the street had to be amputated due to the damage.

The man’s car was found abandoned just a few blocks away

Police recovered the man’s vehicle while he was in the hospital, abandoned, with the only damage being to the driver’s side. He has car back, but he now faces steep hospital bills and a missing leg to adapt to.

Detectives are on the hunt for the suspect and the accomplice, and are asking the public to come forward with any details that may help with the investigation.

Until then, the man is still recovering from what could have been a fatal attempt to stop a thief.

Viewers say he should have let the thief go

NBC New York’s viewers say the man was brave, but no vehicle is worth a person’s life. Instead, many say he should have let the thief drive off.

“A car is replaceable. Now he has lost his leg, and he will never be the same. Sorry, but what he did holding on like that is not worth it. Please, people, your life and limbs are priceless; everything else is replaceable!” wrote a viewer.

Others mentioned it was a mistake to leave the vehicle running by the curb.

“NEVER LEAVE YOUR CAR RUNNING, but also NEVER chase or hold onto a car driving away, while you may be sitting up there dead, the thief got your car. It’s now worth the risk, cars are replaceable limbs are not,” they wrote.

Another said the city’s law structure is to blame.

“I know he messed up leaving his car vulnerable, but thieves would be stealing if it wasn’t so easy,” they said.