Friday, June 24, 2011

Good Samaritans come to aid of Pirates catcher during road rage incident

It's hard to imagine what Pittsburgh Pirates catcher Chris Snyder must have been feeling on Wednesday.

Placed on the disabled list with a herniated disk last week, the 30-year-old just underwent a back surgery that has severely limited his movement.

The procedure was so recent, in fact, that it prevented him from helping his wife Carla as she was attacked during a road rage incident in Pittsburgh on Wednesday.

Talk about a tough spot to be in: Carla was driving Chris and their two children in a car in Pittsburgh when she almost collided with a man on a motor scooter. Police later identified that man as 44-year-old Subhash Arjanbhi Modhwadia.

Police allege that Modhwadia was so enraged that he followed the couple's car to a nearby gas station. It was there that he threw his scooter in front of the car before kicking and scratching at the automobile. Luckily two Good Samaritans ? an off-duty police officer plus a former high school wrestler and volunteer firefighter named Joe Changle ? were able to intervene and subdue Modhwadia before he could injure Carla Snyder or anyone else.

From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

Mr. Changle couldn't ignore Mrs. Snyder's yells for help.

"She was screaming, 'help, help me, my husband just had back surgery and he can't do anything,'" said Mr. Changle, 22, of Scott. "I stepped toward the male and I said, 'You've got to chill out, you don't hit women.'

"I've got a pretty hot head, so he got pretty defensive real quick and tried to assault me. I said, 'Dude, don't threaten me, just back off.' I had to make a decision whether I was going to let him hurt me or possibly neutralize things."

The Post-Gazette reports that Modhwadia has been charged with aggravated assault and criminal mischief and is being held on $25,000 bond. Changle is of the belief that Modhwadia thought the Snyders were trying to intentionally injure him.

The good news, though, is that nobody was ultimately injured. The Pirates released a statement on Thursday saying they're "grateful for those bystanders who stepped up to assist Chris to ensure no physical harm was done to his wife and children."

Indeed, that's an admirable effort and it's great to hear that it was as successful as the Pirates' above-.500 season has been so far. �You have to imagine that there's a first pitch at a Pirates game and a stocked suite at PNC Park in their future.

And if not? Well, there definitely should be.

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