As a violent brawl broke out at a mall in Torrance, one man is being hailed as a hero for saving a young boy being pummeled by teenagers.
The fight broke out at the Del Amo Fashion Center on Sunday night where a large group of teens began physically targeting one victim.
It all happened very quickly when Maurice Hardy, a good Samaritan, decided to jump in and save the boy.
“I’ve got two little brothers and if I see something like that happening, I would want somebody to help them,” Hardy said. “So I thought, ‘I got to help them.’ I don’t like bullies. I don’t like stuff like that.”
Video captured a large group of teens chasing the victim through the mall before knocking him to the ground. The teens are seen surrounding the boy before beginning to kick and punch him.
That’s when Hardy quickly jumps into the crowd, pushing the violent teens away while yelling at them to leave.
“As I was running up, I just saw a crowd,” Hardy recalled. “I didn’t know how many kids. I just jumped right in and started pushing them away.”
The fight was part of a larger disturbance at the mall that day, prompting a large police presence to respond to the shopping center. Reports of gunshots being fired earlier in the day were also reported.
The boy was rescued thanks to Hardy’s quick thinking, but despite being called a hero, he doesn’t believe what he did was out of the ordinary.
“I don’t feel like I’m a hero,” Hardy said. “It just feels like something I would do. It’s always been my instinct to protect. So I just jumped in and worked.”
Since the video went viral on social media, Hardy said he’s been offered free jiujitsu training by a local school.