Man stops beating by teens of robbery victim in Southfield

SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (FOX 2) - A man driving by saw someone being attacked and did whatever he could to stop it.

"When it registered in my mind what was going on, I hit the brakes and got out," said Lester Sloan.

Not everyone would but Sloan did. As the caregiver drove to his client's house on Lathrup Blvd near 10 Mile in Southfield last Friday night, he spotted a scuffle of some sort.

When he looked closer, he realized three teens were attacking a man who appeared to be walking home alone.

"My heart broke and I was like, I have to do something," he said. "I didn't think about my safety, my well-being, I just knew I had to get out of the car and help this guy."

The 27-year-old victim was walking home from a nearby synagogue when the three teens began to beat and body slam him in hopes of stealing his cellphone and money.

Sloan says it was the Jewish Sabbath and the man had neither. Luckily he intervened just in time.

"It could have been a lot worse," Sloan said.

FOX 2: "Did they get anything?"

"He had nothing on him, I mean it's sad," Sloan said. "I asked him if he was okay, he said he was beat up a little bit. I helped him find his glasses on the street and used my phone to call 911 because he didn't have a cell phone on him." 

They called police - but the teens believed to be under 17, were long gone and took off running down Hilton toward Greenfield.

Once he knew the victim was taken care of, Sloan left, but he couldn't let it go. He later posted his frustration on the Metro Detroit Crime Facebook page, specifically addressing the three young men who beat the unarmed Jewish man for no reason. 

"I am tired of seeing the beatings, the killings, robbing all the senseless stuff," he said. "If you want something, go get a job and pay for it like I do." 

Police are still looking for the suspects. Sloan says there were witnesses because other cars drove by.

It begs the question, if you saw a man being jumped by teens, alone, on a dark street, what would you do? Would you stop?

"I hope so," Sloan said. "Because next time it might go one step further and that’s not what we want."