DETROIT – Former NFL player Braylon Edwards stepped in and saved the life of an 80-year-old man who was being attacked in the locker room at a suburban Detroit YMCA, police said Monday.
“If it wasn't for that intervention, we could very easily be talking about someone’s death,” said Jeff King, the police chief in Farmington Hills.
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Authorities, meanwhile, filed an attempted murder charge against a 20-year-old man for the incident Friday at the recreation center.
Edwards, 41, said he was “just minding my business” when he heard a dispute about loud music.
“The noise escalates, and then you can hear some pushing and shoving, so you know what fighting sounds like," Edwards told WDIV-TV. “But once I hear a thud, that’s when I got up and turned around.”
Edwards stopped the assault of an elderly man, who had a severe head injury. The 20-year-old suspect fled on foot before he was captured by police.
“He absolutely saved that man’s life,” King told The Associated Press. “I've been a police officer going on 29 years. When these assaults are ongoing, really bad things can happen.”
The chief said the victim was in critical but stable condition at a hospital Monday.
Oakland County prosecutor Karen McDonald didn't mention Edwards by name but said: “I commend the witness who intervened, and we will seek justice for this victim.”
McDonald called it a “vicious, senseless attack.”
The alleged attacker appeared in court Saturday and remains in custody on $250,000 bond.
“At the end of the day that’s what you do,” Edwards said of his decision to get involved.
Edwards, a star receiver at Michigan, was a first round draft pick by the Cleveland Browns in 2005. He played eight seasons in the NFL, mostly with Cleveland and the New York Jets.
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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl