Today on my lunch break, I was walking to a restaurant in the Inner Sunset when I came upon two older men kind of sprawled on the ground on top of each other. There was grunting and grappling, one with his arm around the neck of the other. A nearby bike was knocked over on its side.
There were several people passing by and staring, including 3-4 burly looking dudes who looked like construction workers. But no one was doing anything.
I considered walking across the street, thinking surely someone would do something. But something inside compelled me to get closer.
"Hey, stop that shit!" I yelled at both of them.
"This guy attacked me!" one of the men yelled back.
"Let each other go and step away!" I shouted, getting in closer. "Walk away!"
One of the guys on closer inspection looked kind of… off. His hair was kind of a mess and his clothes were pretty beat up. He was grabbing onto the arm of the other guy.
After I shouted some more, the bedraggled guy started letting the other guy go. And then a half-dozen cops appeared out of nowhere, taking charge of the situation and separating the two.
And that was it. I went on to get my lunch and go back to work.
I do wonder what would have happened if the cops hadn't shown up. I didn't really have much of a plan other than to try to get them to stop fighting.
Anyway I'm glad I intervened. I'm grateful it didn't look like anyone was seriously hurt in the scuffle. Perhaps the situation would have gotten a lot worse if I hadn't acted.