Dev Patel stopped a violent attack on Monday and he’s speaking out about it.
It happened in Australia, according to a report from local outlet 7News. The 32-year-old actor was spotted talking with police at about 8:45 p.m. (Patel’s girlfriend Tilda Cobham-Hervey was born in Adelaide.)
In a statement to Variety, Patel’s rep confirmed that he and his friends stepped in to stop the fight, which 7News reported was between a man and a woman on the street.
“We can confirm that last night, in Adelaide, Dev Patel and his friends witnessed a violent altercation that was already in progress outside of a convenience store. Dev acted on his natural instinct to try and de-escalate the situation and break up the fight,” Patel’s rep said. “The group was thankfully successful in doing so and they remained on site to ensure that the police and eventually the ambulance arrived.”
They added, “There are no heroes in this situation and sadly this specific incident highlights a larger systemic issue of marginalized members of society not being treated with the dignity and respect they deserve.”
“The hope is that the same level of media attention this story is receiving (solely because Dev, as a famous person, was involved) can be a catalyst for lawmakers to be compassionate in determining long-term solutions to help not only the individuals who were involved but the community at large.”