A valiant Philadelphia cyclist grabbed her bike helmet and charged after a man she caught allegedly sexually assaulting a 63-year-old woman in broad daylight.
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she → grab → daylight
Mary Martin was riding home from work on September 21, when she spotted the alleged assault near the 1800 block of Federal Street in the city’s Point Breeze neighborhood at around 4.15pm.
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she → rid → 4.15pm
Martin said she initially shouted at the man to stop.
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she → say → man
He turned around briefly before continuing, but it was the sight of the distressed senior woman that prompted Martin to intervene.
'When I saw her face and how upset she was, I was really mad that someone would do that to someone,' Martin said to ABC7.
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Martin → turn → ABC7
The man then tried to amble away, but Martin simply wasn't prepared to let him disappear.
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him → try → ?
Still clutching her bicycle helmet, she confronted him and began striking him with it.
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she → clutch → it
'I was holding my bike helmet, so I started hitting him with it because I wasn’t thinking.
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I → hold → it
I wanted to stop the guy,' she stated.
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she → want → guy
Mary Martin was on her way home from work when she sprang into action Monday afternoon.
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she → spring → action
She said she watched a man assault a woman near the 1800 block of Federal Street around 4.15 pm and whacked the man with her bike helmet, leading the man to flee
Residents in the neighborhood said the alleged assault made them nervous, and they're going to be more aware of their surroundings now
Martin said she used her voice and her bike helmet to intervene and stop the assailant, charging after him, brandishing her helmet
A witness described seeing the cyclist chase after the man, shouting: 'How dare you?
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you → say → man
Philadelphia police said the 63-year-old woman reported that an unknown man had approached her from behind and inappropriately touched her.
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man → say → her
No injuries were reported.
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injuries → report → ?
Martin said she was shocked by how casually the man appeared to behave after the alleged assault.
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man → say → assault
'I was just appalled at how brazen this guy was to just do this and walk away,' she said.
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she → appal → this
But after confronting him, Martin realized she was putting herself in harm's way.
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she → confront → way
Rather than continue the pursuit, she pulled out her phone and took photographs of the suspect as he ran from the scene.
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he → continue → scene
She later handed the images over to detectives, who have released them as they appeal for help identifying the man.
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they → hand → man
Martin then returned to the victim and stayed with her before accompanying the woman to Philadelphia police’s Special Victims Unit, where she made a report.
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she → return → report
Yet after realizing the direct physical confrontation put her at risk, Martin stopped hitting him, took photos of the fleeing suspect, and escorted the victim directly to the Philadelphia Police Department to file a report
She credits training and learning about the harmful 'bystander effect' for spurring her into action
Martin said her instinctive decision to step in was partly influenced by what she had learned about the 'bystander effect' – the tendency for people to hesitate when they see someone else in trouble.
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they → realize → trouble
She believes people should speak up when they witness behavior they know is wrong.
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they → believe → behavior
'If you see something, say something,' Martin said, adding, 'there’s a lot of power in calling out gross behavior.'
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Martin → see → behavior
Martin said the alleged attacker did not appear to relent when the woman protested.
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woman → say → ?
'He didn’t stop because she was yelling,' she said.
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she → stop → ?
'It wasn’t until I, outside the situation, interrupted him and said, "What you’re doing isn’t OK."
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doing → interrupt → What
'
The incident has left some residents in the Point Breeze neighborhood shaken up as they describe being more wary of their surroundings.
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they → leave → surroundings
Patricia Johnson, a local resident, said she had generally felt safe in the area before the alleged assault.
'
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she → say → assault
Normally, I feel safe around here,' Johnson said.
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Johnson → feel → ?
'That’s the first time something like that happened.
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something → ’ → that
I have to watch myself.'
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I → have → myself
Police continue to search for the suspect, while the Special Victims Unit investigates the alleged assault.
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Unit → continue → assault
Detectives are asking anyone who recognizes the man in the released photographs or has information about the incident to contact Philadelphia police.
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who → ask → police
The Daily Mail has reached out to the Philadelphia Police Department for comment.
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Mail → reach → comment
The Aporia
