YouTube streamer Sherwin saw what appeared to be a man being attacked while on a walk in London.- The Metropolitan Police confirmed the incident and said inquiries were ongoing.
- He told Insider he hopes to inspire other people to step in when they see someone being mistreated.
On Friday night, a popular YouTube streamer was filming his walk around central London when he saw a man whom he thought needed help. In Leicester Square at around 1 AM, the streamer, known as Sherwin, was asking for directions when he said he heard someone yelling. Everything from there was caught on camera on his seven-and-a-half-hour long stream.
Sherwin said he turned around and saw a man on the floor, as an unidentified individual appeared to try to take his bicycle. He said he immediately ran over and yelled at the person, whom he believed to be a thief, to leave the man alone.
"The moment was surreal," Sherwin, who doesn't share his last name publicly, told Insider. "As I was rushing over, adrenaline mixed in with my anxiety was in me, and I felt like a soldier, a defender."
When he reached the scene, he said the cyclist, who hasn't been named, was laying down in the road and looked to be in shock. The purported mugger attempted to take the bike again, as seen in the video, but ran away when more people approached.
The cyclist was bleeding from a visible cut on his face and asked Sherwin to call the police. Sherwin held out his phone, and the cyclist told the emergency services that he thought he had been the victim of an attempted murder, as the unidentified man had been carrying a knife.
No arrests have been made, police said
The Metropolitan Police confirmed the incident to Insider. A spokesperson said that police were called at 12:49 a.m. on the morning of Saturday, April 10, "to reports of an attempted robbery in Whitcomb Street."
"Officers attended and it was reported that a 21-year-old man had been assaulted by a man who attempted to steal his bike," the spokesperson said. "The victim was treated by London Ambulance Service at the scene. He declined further treatment."
The spokesperson continued, "Officers carried out a thorough search of the area, however no suspect was located. There have been no arrests."
-Fifty Shades of Whey (@davenewworld_2) April 10, 2021
Sherwin, whose YouTube channel has more than 185,000 total views, told Insider it was "like a movie scene" when he ran over to the man who was being attacked, and he didn't think about his own safety and wellbeing at the time. He said he saw a struggle, and the man on the ground being punched and kicked. He stayed there until an ambulance and the police arrived and started taking statements from witnesses, he said.
"What spurred me to help the defenseless man? I'm not sure," Sherwin said. "My mind and thoughts were blank. I just wanted, and tried, to stop the attack."
Sherwin said he knows what it's like to be bullied and picked on, and didn't want to be the kind of person that "does nothing, just records, ignores, walks away, and doesn't care enough to actively try to stop something getting worse."
"I truly really hope, if anything, I've maybe inspired people to not be afraid," he said. "To try and step in, and to stop a bad-looking scenario from not turning bad to fatally worse."
Footage of the incident starts at 6 hours and 5 minutes into the video.
Inquiries are ongoing. The police ask anybody with information to tweet @MetCC, or call 101 quoting CAD reference 327/10Apr. To remain anonymous, those with knowledge related to the incident can contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.