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I intervened in a fight...eeeeep (long but I need to talk)
Ok guys, something I need to talk about, but can't discuss on my Facebook (you'll see why in a minute). I've said I need to find a new way home, but now I am REALLY not going to be taking the route that goes down Crazy Central Street anymore. Some scary stuff happened yesterday. This was late on a Saturday night in a big city, but still.
Yesterday I departed my train to head to my bus stop for the final leg of my commute, having left work at 11pm, and I hear someone yelling for the train operator to call security. I look, and a large (not huge but no pixie either) woman who looks like she belongs in a trailer park is beating the crap out of a smaller woman. Punches being thrown, and I think the smaller woman's head was slammed against the side of the train at least once. This was happening outside the train at the stop, not inside the vehicle (relevant in a minute).
So people are yelling "stop it", others are on their phones calling 911, but when I saw that tiny woman getting beat up on, I just acted. I walked over, pulled out the pepper spray, took careful aim, and blasted the aggressor right in the face. A controlled, less-than-5-second blast, just enough to make her stop the beatdown but not enough (I hope) to cause any permanent problems. I felt totally calm and in control, and my only thought was I wasn't going to let someone get beaten to death in front of me, I had to help. I was even together enough to remember to hold back, not to use the whole can, just do what was necessary.
THEN I panicked. I walked away, getting yelled at by the aggressor as well as a bystandar that the person being attacked had "started it" and I had no right to do what I did. I hid at the bus shelter, and jumped on the first bus headed home.
Yes I know I should have stayed. Yes I know I should have talked to the cops. Yes I know I was a witness, but I was scared. I realized i had just used a weapon on another human being for the first time in my life, and I didn't know if my state laws provide "defense of a third party" as a justification for the use of force (I looked it up later, they do.)
As I boarded my bus, I could hear the aggressor yelling that "she started on me, it's her fault" exc to the cops. An ambulance was also pulling up, so I can only assume both she and her victim got treated.
Side note: if anyone reading this is ever in a fight, most areas only allow the use of enough force to defend yourself and get out of the situation. You can't keep just beating on someone, even if they threw the first punch, so I assume Trailer Park Queen is going away for a while. The cops were running up as I was walking away, and I know the train driver saw part of the fight, and I think she's required to give a statement, so they'll have a witness despite my being a chicken-shit and booking it. So I hope anyway.
PS: Please take debates on gun control and other contentious topics to Fratching...just reporting what happened here and wishing I'd handled it differently.
Yesterday I departed my train to head to my bus stop for the final leg of my commute, having left work at 11pm, and I hear someone yelling for the train operator to call security. I look, and a large (not huge but no pixie either) woman who looks like she belongs in a trailer park is beating the crap out of a smaller woman. Punches being thrown, and I think the smaller woman's head was slammed against the side of the train at least once. This was happening outside the train at the stop, not inside the vehicle (relevant in a minute).
So people are yelling "stop it", others are on their phones calling 911, but when I saw that tiny woman getting beat up on, I just acted. I walked over, pulled out the pepper spray, took careful aim, and blasted the aggressor right in the face. A controlled, less-than-5-second blast, just enough to make her stop the beatdown but not enough (I hope) to cause any permanent problems. I felt totally calm and in control, and my only thought was I wasn't going to let someone get beaten to death in front of me, I had to help. I was even together enough to remember to hold back, not to use the whole can, just do what was necessary.
THEN I panicked. I walked away, getting yelled at by the aggressor as well as a bystandar that the person being attacked had "started it" and I had no right to do what I did. I hid at the bus shelter, and jumped on the first bus headed home.
Yes I know I should have stayed. Yes I know I should have talked to the cops. Yes I know I was a witness, but I was scared. I realized i had just used a weapon on another human being for the first time in my life, and I didn't know if my state laws provide "defense of a third party" as a justification for the use of force (I looked it up later, they do.)
As I boarded my bus, I could hear the aggressor yelling that "she started on me, it's her fault" exc to the cops. An ambulance was also pulling up, so I can only assume both she and her victim got treated.
Side note: if anyone reading this is ever in a fight, most areas only allow the use of enough force to defend yourself and get out of the situation. You can't keep just beating on someone, even if they threw the first punch, so I assume Trailer Park Queen is going away for a while. The cops were running up as I was walking away, and I know the train driver saw part of the fight, and I think she's required to give a statement, so they'll have a witness despite my being a chicken-shit and booking it. So I hope anyway.
PS: Please take debates on gun control and other contentious topics to Fratching...just reporting what happened here and wishing I'd handled it differently.
) just that you finished it. Well done!
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