Two University women helped disarm a man wielding a knife after stumbling upon a fight on 14th Avenue between Mill Street and Ferry Street early Saturday morning.
Walking home at 3 a.m., roommates Carson Lengsfield, 22, and Shanead Mueller, 21, were walking their usual route home from the bars and talking about their night when they saw two men on the ground, one on top of the other, Mueller said.
Lengsfield approached the men.
“I saw some people were fighting on the ground and I decided it was my duty to see if they needed me to help. I told them they should stop fighting. Then I saw the guy on the ground had a knife,” she said.
Alex Mena, 19, was attempting to attack an area resident with the knife when the women intervened. Police have not released the name of the victim, who was treated at the scene for a laceration on his forearm, according to a Eugene Police Department press release.
Lengsfield said it was dark, so she was unable to see what kind of knife it was, but she thought it was “some sort of shank.” As she approached, she asked if the men needed help, and assisted the victim by standing on Mena’s wrist.
“I’m almost six foot. I’m not really a feisty person, I’m just curious,” Lengsfield said. “When people are fighting I just try to make peace.”
Mueller said she was thinking the pair should run away.
“She broke up a fight between some guys on Hilyard two years ago. She just does that,” Mueller said.
Lengsfield said she was just being nosy.
“I always try to intervene even when I shouldn’t,” Lengsfield said. “I put myself in situations where I shouldn’t be. I feel like boys won’t hit girls, but I know that isn’t true.”
Two men, John-David Shay and Gabino Salgado, Jr. were driving by and asked the women if they needed help. One took over for Lengsfield while they waited for police.
Neither woman knows what caused the fight, but guessed alcohol was a major factor.
“They were both wasted,” Mueller said. “The guy who had the knife was handcuffed and screaming and yelling. I could tell these people were really drunk.”
Mena was taken to jail on the charge of Assault 2 with a knife and was cited for being a minor in possession of alcohol.
Lengsfield said the incident has not changed her.
“I’m still probably going to try to intervene until something bad happens,” she said.
Mueller said she supported Lengsfield stepping in.
“I don’t know what would have happened if she hadn’t,” she said.
Lengsfield is humble about the incident.
“It wasn’t really that big of deal. All I did was stand on someone’s hand,” she said.
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