Good Samaritans jumped into action Tuesday in San Francisco to help save a man from a potential stabbing death.
It started with what police are callng a random attack in broad daylight in the middle of crowds on a popular stretch in the downtown area.
Police said 37-year-old transient Sean Carsetti approached a 49-year-old man on the sidewalk and asked to borrow his knife. When the man handed it to him, Carsetti suddenly started to stab him in his upper body.
A pair of city workers, now being dubbed heroes, stopped the assault. The two San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency workers, Frank Shreve and Paolo De Souza, were driving on Market Street near Fifth Street en route to the Embarcadero Station when they spotted the attack, police said. They stopped the truck to intervene and were able to subdue Carsetti with the help of other bystanders.
"There was a gentleman lying on the street here; he was clearly injured," witness Ed Hesselgren said. "It almost looked like six, seven EMTs around him with a giant crowd gathered."
Another witness, Nico Leyva, said he saw the victim as emergency personnel pulled him to the side and laid him on the ground. They started applying pressure to wound.
"There were probably 40-50 cops," he said. "A lot of cops had the block entirely closed off."
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SFMTA Director of Transit John Haley sent out a letter of special recognition Wednesday, calling the Shreve and De Souza brave heroes.
"While many others passed by observing this horrific crime, they did not intervene," the letter said. "However, Frank and Paolo took immediate action."
Carsetti was booked into county jail on attempted murder.
The stabbing was the fourth reported in the area in the past week. There were two stabbings an hour apart on Monday and a stabbing at Market and Seventh streets on Oct. 18.
