Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Easy to be brave from afar

I would hope to be brave enough to help the old man in this story; but in the event what would I do? It's easy to say I'd be brave but that's armchair thinking.

I remember having a gun pulled on me many years ago (it made the Star!). I reacted rather differently than I would have guessed -- I actually took on the guy and gave chase, all the while thinking, "what if I catch him? will I use my super powers to disarm him?" (In the end the police intervened).

http://bit.ly/byDbhF

Police are asking bystanders to come forward after a subway car full of passengers ignored the cries of a 79-year-old man who was being mugged.

The robbery occurred around 8:30 p.m. Saturday, when the victim, Yusuf Hizel, was on an eastbound train along the Bloor-Danforth line.

According to Hizel, the confrontation began after a man, who was seated beside him, asked for change. Hizel refused, but was then approached by another suspect who asked the same question. When Hizel refused again, he got up to reach for the passenger-assistance alarm — the yellow strip located above the seats on all trains — and was then attacked.

Despite being held down as his wallet was taken, Hizel said none of the onlookers came to his rescue, even as he cried out for help.

1 comment:

suzieQ said...

I was completely shocked and disgusted by the indifference of the other passengers. Could somebody not, at the very least, pressed the yellow emergency strip to alert the TTC security? If I were that man, I would move the hell out of this city to a nice small town as soon as I could. Shame on us!!!