Video shows New York state senator stop violent street fight in Brooklyn

A New York state senator is being called a hero for helping to stop a violent street fight in Brooklyn this week.

Sen. Stephen Chan, a former U.S. Marine and retired NYPD sergeant, stepped in after witnessing an assault Tuesday afternoon.

"Nobody was doing anything about it"

The violent confrontation happened at the corner of Avenue U and East 16th Street in Sheepshead Bay.

Police say the suspect was punching a 35-year-old victim multiple times, leaving him bloodied.

Video shows Chan stepping in to break up the fight.

"I heard a lot of screaming. I saw a lot of punches being thrown," Chan said. "And everybody was just standing around. Nobody was doing anything about it."

"They were saying some crazy stuff," witness Johnathan Gay said. "They could've took his life right there."

But Chan says his police training kicked in.

"In the '90s, we called it verbal judo. So it's a method of calming everybody down and de-escalating the situation," he said. "All I said was, 'Bro, no, no. No, no, it's not worth it.'"

"I had to remain calm"

Former New York City Councilman Ari Kagan was with Chan at the time and witnessed the attack.

"He was already bloody face, and he continued to hit him very, very hard," Kagan said. "I strongly believe if Senator Chan did not intervene, this guy would be dead."

As the men pulled away, Chan saw a knife on the ground.

"We always have a rule that the knife should be about 20 feet away from you, and that knife was, in fact, 20 feet away from me, and nobody was going for it," he said. "So I wasn't too concerned at that time."

Chan says he's not calling himself a hero; rather, he believes public service doesn't end after police retirement.

"I wasn't armed at all. I had to remain calm," he said. "That's the bread and butter in any situation like that."

Police say the victim refused medical treatment at the scene, and they are still searching for the suspect.