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I intervened in a cross between a domestic dispute and a child abduction. I assume that all three were biologically related but as I was there, the situation escalated from an argument with the child in her car to an argument with the child in his truck and the woman hysterically trying to wedge herself into his door frame so that he couldn’t close the door and leave. I walked up and asked loudly, purposefully wanting him to hear, if the lady would like for me to call 911. She pleaded yes. I immediately called 911 and started walking backwards away from all of them.

I am not a large man. As someone else mentioned I am not in a position to grapple with anybody. I also did not presume who was in the right or wrong, I just wanted to offer police to come help sort it out. Granted, the way she said she wanted 911 involved I assumed she was in the right but I still had no intentions of directly intervening. I had two boys and a wife in a car nearby.

For me the black and white issue of when to help can still be a wide grey area. Could I have done more? Yes. Could I have done less and still sleep well, maybe. I found that balance between risking my family’s stability for strangers in an altercation I knew very little about but was still concerned about.

As others have said, I think the only criticism I have for you is the space issue. In my situation when the man tried to close the gap on me, I had put fuel pumps and cars between us and I was able to keep them between us until he decided to leave. If possible, once you got his distracted and the woman “freed” you might could have looked for a cart or anything to put between you.

I think the line between obligation to society and a “batman” mentality is hard to define. Like defining love, it’s easier to know it in the moment rather than describing it succinctly for a definition. I just hope I know it when I need to.

You did well.