Gawkers Idle After Grisly Hit-And-Run

"Bystander Syndrome" Causes Witnesses To Ignore Emergencies, Psychologist Says

(CBS/ AP)  A 78-year-old man is tossed like a rag doll by a hit-and-run driver and lies motionless on a busy city street as car after car goes by. Pedestrians gawk but appear to do nothing. One driver stops briefly but then pulls back into traffic. A man on a scooter slowly circles the victim before zipping away.

The chilling scene - captured on video by a streetlight surveillance camera - has touched off a round of soul-searching in Hartford, with the capital city's biggest newspaper blaring "SO INHUMANE" on the front page and the police chief lamenting: "We no longer have a moral compass."

"We have no regard for each other," said Chief Daryl Roberts, who on Wednesday released the video in hopes of making an arrest in the accident that left Angel Arce Torres in critical condition.

However, Roberts and other city officials backtracked on Thursday. After initially saying he was unsure whether anyone called 911, he and other city officials appeared at a news conference in which they said that four people dialed 911 within a minute of the accident, and that Torres received medical attention shortly after that.

But what seems like witnesses ignoring an emergency situation on the video can be explained by something psychologists call bystander syndrome.

"In a nutshell (bystander syndrome) is when people witness an emergency, when they witness an accident or a crime, the more people that witness, the less likely any one of them is going to do something to help," Dr. Marisa Randazzo, former U.S. Secret Service Chief Psychologist told CBS' The Early Show.

"It's counter intuitive, but what we know is that there are three steps that any bystander, any witness goes through when they see something happening and they've got to go through these three steps before they do anything," Randazzo said.

"They have to notice it's an emergency," Randazzo said. "What happens is when something like this happens people start to look around at others and see what their reaction is, and if the other people aren't immediately reacting with alarm, pulling out their cell phones, calling the police, maybe calling for help, yelling, it's easy for us to misinterpret and say, no one else looks so alarmed so maybe it is not what I think it is.

"They have to feel like they have the skills and the competence to do something. If there was a nurse or an EMT, they would have gone in because they're trained to do that. Everyone else assumes 'I don't have the training to do that,'" Randazzo said.

City Council President Calixto Torres said viewers of the 1½-minute videotape might mistakenly believe that no one helped.

"I think this moved too quickly," he said. "I think it moved too quick and we were putting information out that was incomplete. What I think was missing is the fact that this happened in a very short period of time."

Roberts said his initial angry reaction was based on what he saw in the video. "The video was very graphic and sent a very bad message," the police chief said.

The hit-and-run took place in daylight last Friday at about 5:45 p.m. in a working-class neighborhood close to downtown in this city of 125,000.

In the video, Torres, a retired forklift operator, walks in the two-way street just blocks from the state Capitol after buying milk at a grocery. A tan Toyota and a dark Honda that is apparently chasing it veer across the center line, and Torres is struck by the Honda. Both cars then dart down a side street.

Nine cars pass Torres as a few people stare from the sidewalk. Some approach Torres, but no one gets any closer than a couple of yards and no one attempts to stop or divert traffic until a police cruiser responding to an unrelated call arrives on the scene after about a minute and a half.

"Like a dog they left him there," said a disgusted Jose Cordero, 37, who was with friends Thursday not far from where Torres was struck. Robert Luna, who works at a store nearby, said: "Nobody did nothing."

One witness, Bryant Hayre, told The Hartford Courant he didn't feel comfortable helping Torres, who he said was bleeding and conscious.

The accident - and bystanders' apparent callousness - dominated morning radio talk shows.

"It was one of the most despicable things I've seen by one human being to another," the Rev. Henry Brown, a community activist, said in an interview. "I don't understand the mind-set anymore. It's kind of mind-boggling. We're supposed to help each other. You see somebody fall, you want to offer a helping hand."

Gov. M. Jodi Rell said the video is "beyond chilling."

"There seems little question that the driver of the car that struck Angel Arce Torres on May 30 knew what happened," she said in a written statement. "Almost as chilling is the reaction of some passers-by who did little in the moments after the crash to assist Mr. Torres."

The victim's son, Angel Arce, begged the public for help in finding the driver.

"I want justice for my father," he said. "He's a good man. He's in pain. The family is in pain."

The hit-and-run is the second violent crime to shock Hartford this week. On Monday, former Deputy Mayor Nicholas Carbone, 71, was beaten and robbed while walking to breakfast. He remains hospitalized and faces brain surgery.

"There was a time they would have helped that man across the street. Now they mug and assault him," police chief said. "Anything goes."

[ralan40]

I blame Lawyers, My Dentist was sued by a choking victim because his succesful attempts to save the guy''s life resulted in injury (which is common when performing the heimlich or CPR.
Good Samaritans are not protected from liability by ungrateful victims.
As dumb as most people are, it was probably better to wait for the professionals to do the right thing.

[feelfree4u]

Re: "It''s been well-known that many, if not most, black people have a slow, unconfident, apathetic, "someone else will do it" attitude."

Posted by FeelFreee4U at 07:31 PM

###

If there are any black people or others that disagree with my impersonator''s opinions here, his name is Michael Totten, and he can be found at:

www.michaeltotten.com

[worldpower1]

TWO CARS CROSSED THE SOLID LINE''S IN THE ROAD, THAT MEAN''S NO PASSING. FIND THE SOB THAT HIT THE OLD MAN AND PUT HIM AWAY FOR LIFE BECAUSE JUST FINEING HIM AND TAKING AWAY HIS DL WILL NOT STOP HIM FROM DRIVING, MAN WHAT A STUPID ******.

[grncat-2009]

Regardless of all that has been said, someone should have been kneeling beside this person, holding his hand and speaking to him, to tell him not to move that help was on the way and that you would be with him until it arrived, a little comforting conversation might be the thing keeps a person in pain alive. Anywhere, anytime, no excuses. Talk it anyway you want, those people were wrong to do nothing to aid him. I have and and I would do it again without regard to the possible harm that may come to me.

[enlightenu]

the truth is at least 4 people called 911 within seconds of the accident, according to an update by the police commissioner. No one on the scene at the moment had any medical training to help. I see at least one car pulling over to dial for help as well after a pedestrian asks him to. There is a bit of apathy here, but nothing like the incident at Martin Luther King Jr hospital in LA, where a woman lay dying on the floor in the ER with no one helping her, and the janitor mopping up around her. That was about 1 year ago.

[feelfreee4u]

Anyone notice how those bystanders looked, dressed, and sauntered? It will seem familiar to anyone who lives in a large city in the more mediocre neighborhoods. Yep, all black people. So what''s the surprise here? It''s been well-known that many, if not most, black people have a slow, unconfident, apathetic, "someone else will do it" attitude. I''ve worked with many of them for 30 years and know this well. I spent an extra 20 hours a week doing a black guy%u2019s job for him, simply because he wouldn''t, and the company would not fire him out of fear. A black man will sit and watch and wait for hours, hoping for someone else will do his own work for him. This is not surprising at all. I assure you; had this happened in Beverly Hills or Seattle or La Jolla or Phoenix, you%u2019d have maybe ten seconds before one of those pedestrians had helped.

[feelfreee4u]

I watched the video 3 times. Looks clearly like a group of unemployed black people watching an old white man die in the street. So, what''s the news story here?

[justsane-2009]

Zendigity--and i was worried that no one would get around to blaming the victim....

[wardoglrs]

If you want to be ruled by fear for helping someone out then you must be the coldest *** on the planet
This could be you and yes it seemed crule to watch the people not comforting him and it was dangerous street with all that traffic. But at least the police showed up so someone called 911 thank god.

I fear that we as Americans are intolerable of each other but just remember that when it comes down to the real deal we need each other.
Our society has been dumb downed through the years of
brain washed propaganda. Think just think for yourself not the media thought but rather the human thought.
What are we affraid of more than anything? I think its our own goverment that we fear, They are Punks Liers & Thieves. I say ENOUGH time to get a rope.

[lz30]

I can''t believe the lack of basic humanity with this incident! I am a Nurse & would have rushed over to help this poor soul...but for all those who weren''t medically trained & just stood there or drove by without approaching their fellow man to offer even a word of comfort...absolutely disgusting! This would never happen on a street here in Canada.

[zendigity]

Hartford is the insurance capital of the world.
People are told not to help or you may become liable.
4 people called 911 in less than a minute
Cops showed up within 2 minutes.
I''d say the system works.
That guy probably should have used the crosswalk or paid more attention to his surroundings...it''s not like he was walking in the park.

[l8c6]

deacon20081

I understand many things are a crime in Texas punishable by death in some cases unless you are a wealthy oil man.

[deacon20081]

Thanks Be to God in Texas if you Fail to Render Aid it IS A CRIME punishable by jail time.
My prayers are with the man and his family.

[julesom1]

Get sued for holding someone''s hand? I doubt it...

[julesom1]

I''ve been on both sides of a situation similar to this; the victim of a trauma (auto) accident, and a witness (the sole witness who took any action) of someone else''s traumatic event. Reality is: it can happen to you...it can happen to all of us at any time. Imagine how it would feel to be this man; lying in the middle of the road, broken, unable to breathe, knowing that he may easily get run over again. It''s terrifying. When I was lying in my mangled car, (a beautiful young woman of 23) wondering if I had a spinal injury that would render me unable to walk or feed myself ever again, unable to take a breath, unable to move without feeling my bones grating against one another--I can''t tell you how much it meant to me to have one man step forward and take my hand and talk to me until help arrived. I will never ever forget this. It doesn''t take medical training to know how to provide comfort to someone in trouble -- it just takes a sense of humanity and a willingness to step forward. I hope this will touch some of you if you ever find yourself in a situation where another human being is in a life or death situation. Be brave and step out of our do-nothing societal programming -- just do something...anything. Believe me, a victim of something like this is not going to be humiliated by drawing a crowd, if at least a few people from the crowd demonstrate concern and care.

JDB

[l8c6]

tomanyt

Allegedly good samaritan laws would protect but who can trust that a smart attorney with a Lieberman special interest constituent of great wealth wouldn''t find a way to circumvent the law.

[tomanyt]

Get involved, get sued.

[l8c6]

i would have told him to lay still and stay quiet until help arrived. you on the other hard hard to say what would be going on in your mind

Posted by love4all2


You''re so cute.

[love4all2]

l8c6
No unlike you i do have some common sense and have had 1st aide training. i would have told him to lay still and stay quiet until help arrived. you on the other hard hard to say what would be going on in your mind

[l8c6]

love4all2

It''s been determined. Had you been there you would have ran to the old man''s rescue, lifting his head pulling it toward your heart severing his spinal column.