‘Pleading for help.’ Good Samaritan helps CATS passenger after robbery

CHARLOTTE, N.C. ( QUEEN CITY NEWS ) — A Charlotte man has been suspended from using any form of CATS service for a year after he allegedly stole a light rail passenger’s phone and then assaulted them.

This happened shortly after 2:15 p.m. at the Parkwood Avenue station near NoDa on Monday.

According to a video, the passenger can be heard telling CMPD officers that the suspect stole his phone and ran off the light rail at the stop.

The passenger then ran after the man, who turned around and began to assault the victim.

The victim told CMPD officers that he called for help from other passengers who were near the light rail loading dock, but they did not help him.

Michael Zytkow, however, was not among that crowd.

He told Queen City News that he had begun to walk up to the light rail station to travel to UNC Charlotte for a meeting when he heard the victim cry for help.

“The man was just truly pleading for help,” Michael said of the moment. “’Please help me,’ he said he’s got a wife and kid.”

The suspect, according to Michael, appeared to put the victim’s phone down his pants and began to use both hands to punch the victim repeatedly.

The robber was able to get some separation between Michael and the victim and began to run back toward the light rail when he was said to have turned back around to punch the two men.

Michael said he began to fight back and wrestle the suspect to the ground.

Much like the victim, Michael found himself asking for help from a crowd of bystanders and struggling to get any.

“Thankfully two guys came over and started to help me,” he later told officers.

These men helped him hold the suspect until officers arrived and hauled him away.

Michael said the suspect had a backpack with additional phones in it.

CMPD has not confirmed if the suspect is linked to other crimes like this. The victim was not seriously hurt, and neither was Michael.

However, he said he was left wishing more people would’ve stepped in to help.

“Being a father, being a husband, and thinking about the what-if scenarios that can happen to you on a daily basis and just being cautious,  you know, to be safe and sorry,” he said.

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