Originally Posted by Queen Villager

Wow, Emmett's Mom, why don't you cool it? You know nothing about "people like me," and I am quite aware that domestic violence can escalate. I have called 911 numerous times and had the phone in my hand, ready to dial, when this scene abruptly ended and the parties went their separate ways.

This looked to be domestic violence, which is serious indeed; I doubt, however, that the man was marauding for other women on the street to strangle at that moment, which clearly would have warranted a call. The woman could have ID'd him, and can if she wants to, although many domestic violence victims won't do that; I don't know how an after-the-fact call from me, with both parties elsewhere, would have helped in arresting this guy.

What exactly should I have told 911? "I just saw a man trying to strangle a woman, then he stopped and quickly disappeared, and she walked away. No, operator, she is not lying on the ground, she walked in "x" direction, is several blocks away now, is wearing an "x" color blouse, but I am not sure of the street where I last saw her. The guy was wearing an "x" shirt but I have no idea where he went."

Maybe I should have called and said that -- I certainly expressed some doubt in my post about that decision -- although I doubt it would have led police to this "couple," or to the perpetrator.

If I didn't want to get involved because I was late for work, I wouldn't have stopped at all or have driven several blocks out of my way to look for the woman. Should I have gotten out of my car, approached her, told her I saw the assault, tell her to call the cops and dump the guy (perhaps giving her the idea that I think I'm smarter than she is)? You may be all-knowing enough to have an unambiguous answer for that, but I'm human enough to admit the answer may not be so clear.

I am open to the possibility that I erred in not calling, but not to your uninformed and judgmental rant.

Originally Posted by Queen Villager

Emmettsmoms - What happened to you was terrible. That is not what happened here, at least in the part of this incident that I witnessed. I was pushing the buttons on my phone when the assault was over and pair split the scene, separately.

At that point, the victim did not look around for help or spend even one second looking to see if anyone had been watching, or waiting to catch her breath. She left the scene. You are entitled to your opinion, and clearly it is affected by your own traumatic experience.

I am not, however, someone would sit idly while someone is attacked or looking for help after an assault.