UPPER WEST SIDE, Manhattan (WABC) — A 74-year-old man was stabbed after stepping in to defend a pregnant woman during a confrontation on an MTA bus earlier this month, police said.<\/p>\n
Robert “Tony” Hunter, a former football player, club bouncer and correction officer, said he spoke up on June 5 when a man boarding the bus on the Upper West Side complained about a baby stroller and pushed past the woman, causing it to hit her stomach.<\/p>\n
“I was like uh show the lady some respect. She’s pregnant,” Hunter said.<\/p>\n
Hunter said a second man then approached from the back of the bus and joined the confrontation. “He said something – mind my business this and that and we got into it,” he said.<\/p>\n
Hunter, who had been carrying groceries and heading home to cook dinner for his family, said the men began hitting him as the struggle escalated.<\/p>\n
“I’m wrestling with them – I feel a lot of punches in my back. You know trying to hit me in the head. I feel all that,” he said. “When the bus stopped they were trying to drag me off the bus. I heard one of them say ‘drag him off the bus!'”<\/p>\n
The fight spilled onto the street at Broadway and West 92nd Street, where police said Hunter was stabbed in the shoulder. He did not realize he had been stabbed until he saw the blood.<\/p>\n
Officers later arrested Jaiden Marrero, 24, and Donzell Mitchell, 19, on charges of assault and criminal possession of a weapon.<\/p>\n
Hunter said he was sore afterward “from using muscles I hadn’t used in a long time,” but rejected the idea that he acted heroically. “I’m not a hero – I try to do the right thing – look out for anybody – didn’t have to be her – it could have been anybody having problems that’s in a situation where they need someone to watch their back.”<\/p>\n
The incident has drawn praise from community members who say the city needs more people willing to intervene when others are in danger.<\/p>\n
—<\/p>\n
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