Kenneth Taylor knows how to try out for a job – be a hero.
The 44-year-old Brooklyn man, who drives guests to and from the Essex House, was parked outside the upscale Midtown hotel earlier this week when, he says, one of the security guards yelled for help.
“Grab that guy! He stole a lady’s bag! Call the cops!” Taylor recalled the guard shouting during the Tuesday morning incident.
Two men had just zapped a guest with a stun gun and ripped out of the 68-year-old woman’s hands a bag containing $80,000 worth of gold and diamonds.
The 6-foot-3, 200-pound Taylor – who says he learned “hand to hand” combat in the Army and once worked for a security firm – took chase.
He said he caught up with the guy in nearby Central Park.
“He tried to swing at me but I blocked him and took him in a hold,” Taylor said. “I threw my arm around his neck.”
Taylor says he then marched his prisoner directly to a cop who was directing traffic nearby.
The two brought the suspect back to the hotel where the victim, Batia Muller – a retired Israeli soldier who works for jeweler Rodale – was recovering from the attack.
“It’s just a natural response,” said the father of one who lives in Coney Island.
But Taylor, who works for Delroy Limousines, was also motivated by a dream. “To be honest, I want a job at the Essex House and I try to help them out whenever I can.”
The suspect, Fabio Casas, 30, of Queens, was charged with robbery, criminal possession of a weapon and criminal possession of stolen property.