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Man Apprehends Sex Assault Suspect On No. 3 Train Platform In Brooklyn

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A subway hero recently rescued a woman being sexually assaulted and collared the suspect.

"As soon as she said that he was trying to rape her, I just reacted," Maurice Osborne told CBS2's Matt Kozar on Friday.

Despite getting six stitches above his left eye and a swollen right hand that looked more like a water balloon, Osborne said he'd do it all again.

Asked if anyone else was going to help the woman, Osborne said, "Nope. I wish someone else did. I wish the conductor stayed. The conductor didn't even stay. The train left."

While riding the No. 3 train Wednesday morning at the Bergen Street station in Park Slope, Osborne said he heard screams from a woman, who investigators said was being sexually assaulted by 40-year-old Alvaro Dennica.

Dennica had been allegedly fondling himself in the last subway car before chasing the victim onto the platform and jumping on top of her, Kozar reported.

Osborne, a fit 6-foot-1, 200 pounds, leaped into action and grabbed Dennica by the collar, as he demonstrated on Kozar during the interview.

"He said he did didn't do anything," Osborne said, when asked what the alleged assailant's reaction was.

Osborne said he continued grabbing the man by his shirt, pulling him all the way up the subway station's steps and across Flatbush Avenue to the 78th Precinct, where he turned him in to police.

The 28-year-old victim was following close behind and told investigators what had happened, Kozar reported.

The 37-year-old Osborne, who's living in a shelter in the Bed Stuy section of Brooklyn while studying to become a medical assistant, told Kozar "I like helping people. It makes me feel useful."

He said he hopes New Yorkers will follow his lead and help one another the next time help is needed.

Dennica was charged with assault and attempted sexual abuse and was being held in lieu of $150,000 bond.

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