We all like to think we’ll do the right thing if we see something going on that appears to be fishy. If we think another person, especially a vulnerable young woman, is in danger, will we step up and take action? I think most of us would. But for sure, four young boys in Canada proved that they are on the lookout and have the courage to take action if they see something that’s suspicious. On April 2, 2015, it was nearly midnight when Carsyn Wright, Arnaud Nimenya, Starlyn Rives-Perez, and James Hielema were skateboarding in a mall’s underground parking lot when they spotted a well-dressed man carrying a young lady who seemed to be seriously distraught and probably very drunk.
According to the four boys, the girl was “screaming and yelling” and they said it appeared that she “just wanted to be out of there,” and was dirty and scuffed up. The four boys didn’t even think about what they were doing. They just stopped skateboarding and asked the man what was going on. The man told them that he was trying to call the girl’s father and even showed them a phone. The boys let him walk away while still carrying the girl, but it didn’t feel right to the boys, and their instincts weren’t wrong. Starlyn Rives-Perez told Metro News, “We didn’t know what was going on at first and we didn’t know whether to trust the guy.” He added that it was clear the young woman needed help and that the boys needed to be there for her.
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When they returned to the stairwell, they witnessed the man sexually assaulting the young woman. They said that he had her bent over. Nimenya said that his reaction was shock, adding, “You walk in, and you see something like that, and you freeze. You don’t know what to do.” The boys quickly jumped into action to stop the attack. Hielema, Nimenya, and Rives-Perez started chasing the man while Wright stayed to help the young woman, who they later found out was only 15 years old. The three boys who were chasing the suspect ended up getting into a physical confrontation with him as they tried to prevent him from escaping. The man was trying to walk away from the boys, and Nimenjya says that the man pushed him aggressively out of the way and actually smiled at him.
Video screengrab via Metro
Meanwhile, the police arrived and the man was arrested and later charged with sexual assault. Ironically, the boys feared that they’d be in trouble for fighting the suspect. They were surprised to learn that they were going to be honored by Chief Constable Roger Chaffin in recognition of their bravery at the Chief’s Awards Gala.
