(StraightNews.org) – Michigan Wolverine’s Braylon Edwards has been labeled a hero after coming to an 80-year-old man’s rescue during an attack in Detroit. The incident happened at a Detroit YMCA locker room when Mr. Edwards said he could hear people arguing but didn’t initially react. Then, after hearing what he described as a thud, he decided to intervene.
Edwards told local media that he went to the facility after work and heard people behind him engaged in a dispute about music. He said the argument escalated, and he turned around to find a man grabbing another by his hair and on the verge of slamming his face into a counter. He then interloped, and the man fled the scene.
Prosecutors later stated that the altercation took place between 20-year-old Malik Ali Smith and the unnamed 80-year-old. Police identified Smith through gym records, arrested him soon afterward, and charged him with assault with intent to kill. He was held in Oakland County Jail on a $250,000 cash bond.
When police arrived, they found the victim with several facial injuries, but Farmington Hills Police Chief Jeff King said these would have been significantly worse without Edwards’ actions. “He absolutely saved that man’s life,” he said.
Oakland County prosecutor Karen McDonald said, “This was a vicious, senseless attack,” and thanked Mr. Edwards for his intervention. “We will seek justice for this victim,” she added. Defense attorney Christopher Quinn II said his client has a history of mental health issues but is not usually a violent person.
Former NFL receiver Edwards told reporters that he wasn’t aware he had saved a man’s life and subduing the attacker was something “that you do.” He said a person who lives for 80 years and still goes to work out doesn’t expect their life to end in such circumstances. Police Chief King said Mr. Edwards’s “selfless efforts” represent the very best of American society.
Edwards spent eight seasons in the NFL with the Michigan Wolverines and the Cleveland Browns.
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