A UPS driver is being applauded for coming to the rescue in New York City.

Last Friday, UPS driver Christopher McCall witnessed a teenager being assaulted on a Manhattan street where two people were seen punching and kicking the 17-year-old as they dragged him to the ground according to CBS2 New York.  

Ultimately, the attackers escaped with the teen’s Nike Air Force 1s.

“I yelled back, ‘Really? That’s all you want? You wanted his sneakers?’” McCall told the local news outlet. 

The attack occurred near 23rd Street and Seventh Avenue, where people watched as McCall intervened. Soon after the assault, the teenager began losing consciousness, expressing to McCall that he was unable to breathe.  

“He said, ‘I can’t breathe,’ and I said, ‘Can’t breathe?’ And he said, ‘I’m a diabetic,’” McCall recounted.

Surveillance video of the incident shows McCall using one of his packages to prop up the teen’s head for better oxygen delivery as he reassured him that help was on the way. 

“And I was like, just stay there, just stay there, we’re gonna call an ambulance, and I was telling everybody, ‘Somebody please call an ambulance,’” McCall said.

Eventually, bystander Lindsay Patwich called paramedics, referring to the UPS driver’s act as “heroic.” 

“I called 911,” Patwich said. “It was amazing to see New Yorkers come together rather than just walk by. He was very heroic. He jumped in and handled it like it was his own kid.”

She also captured a photo of McCall with a banana in his hand, given to him by a fellow New Yorker to help lift the teen’s decreasing blood sugar levels. 

“He was a nice-looking young man,” McCall said. “And that was just like, yeah, he could have been dead. There was no stopping. It just looked like they just didn’t have no remorse or regard for life. They would have finished him over some sneakers.”

The teenager is expected to recover, and when he does, McCall said he plans on continuing to look out for him. 

“We’ll make him a UPS driver if he keeps moving forward,” McCall laughed.

The day after the assault, NYPD detectives arrested the two suspects, a 16-year-old boy and a 17-year-old boy who officers say are now facing charges of robbery and possession of stolen property.

According to the NYPD, crime rates have spiked in the month of April, with overall index crime rising 30.4% compared to April 2020. 

“The NYPD is relentless in its mission to maintain public safety for all New Yorkers,” Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said in the report. “The selfless work our officers carry out – day after day, night after night – is one important part of the entire criminal justice system’s process, a process where all pieces must work together to be wholly effective.” 

The statistics also revealed the increase in crimes was primarily attributed to the number of grand larcenies, which saw a 66.1% jump from 1,601 crimes in April 2020 to 2,659 crimes in April 2021. 

Robberies saw a 28.6% increase compared to April 2020 with 885 last month as opposed to 688 last year.