I was going to do a quick blurb about the old lady in England who stopped a jewelry store robbery in process. The whole thing was caught on video that has been spreading across YouTube. You can watch it here. As cool as it was, I couldn't help but think that it there's a good chance it may be staged and/or fake. The events that transpired just seemed a little contrived, but maybe that's just me.
Fortunately, I saw this other story that was even better news. Every now and then I come across one of these stories where you would swear it was straight out of the movies. Or maybe it's that people like Philadelphian Joseph Lozito have been watching too many movies and think they can become a real life hero in a dangerous situation. Well sometimes it actually works.
Lozito had just boarded a commuter train in New York when a killer (I refuse to use the term "alleged" since it's obvious Maksim Gelman had murdered some people just prior) jumped on that same train. The scumbag wanted to get into the motorman compartment but couldn't because there were two police officers already in there. Instead, he decided to attack the first passenger he saw which just happened to be Lozito. He picked the wrong "victim".
Lozito was determined not to go down without a fight. At 6'2" and over 260 pounds, he was easily a match for the criminal. Despite the fact that Gelman was wielding an 8-inch knife and Lozito had no weapon, he tackled guy anyway. Joseph was able to get him subdued while those two officers that were in the motorman compartment joined the fray and apprehended the trash. But not before Lozito sustained multiple stab wounds including a 4-inch gash to the back of his head.
There were a few things that amazed me about this story. The fist being that this piece of filth was on a train of people that also included women and children as well. He apparently had no regards for human life since he just murdered at least four people previously. So why would he be stupid enough to pick Lozito to go after when it was obvious dude was not to be trifled with? It was fortunate for everyone on that train that the guy was that stupid.
Secondly, I like how Lozito said in an interview afterwards that he would have done what any person would have done. That was mighty humble of him to say, but I'm sure I'm not the only person who doesn't agree with that. Maybe anyone with Loztio's build would have reacted the same way. I can't see someone several inches shorter and around 100 pounds lighter doing the same thing. If that was the case, why was Lozito the only person on the train who did anything except for the cops? Which brings me to the third and final observation...
If there were two cops in the motorman compartment, why didn't they spring into action sooner? I don't know much about the NYC subway system, but it seems to me that the entire reason for those cops being in that compartment would be to make sure no one tries to harm the motorman so as to harm the folks on the train. So if they saw this guy trying to get in, shouldn't they have immediately responded rather than wait for him to turn his attention on innocent passengers? I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and assume that the whole situation took place in a matter of seconds so they responded as quickly as they could. However, this is New York we're talking about so I wouldn't be surprised if that truly was not the case.
At any rate, bravo to Joseph Lozito for his courageous actions. I'm sure all of those other passengers were even more thankful that someone like him was on tha train. It's not often that I get a chance to do one of these entries under the category of "Today's Heroes" where it involved an actual heroic action. So it's a pretty good day when that really is the case.
