Video: DA Honors Echo Park Hero Who Saved Woman

An Echo Park man was one of four to received special recognition from the Los Angeles District Attorney's office Friday for an act of courage.

Last spring, Robert Mark was driving home after working a shift at UPS. 

He stopped at the light at Reservoir Street and Alvarado Boulevard in Echo Park, preparing to make a right turn.

Waiting, he looked up and saw a man pummelling a woman on the other side of the street. 

The intensity of the attack shocked him. Mark pulled his car over on Alvarado. He called out to the man, telling him to stop or he would call police.

The man stopped for a brief moment, then began again. Mark ran across the street, trying this time to both intimidate and distract him.

He did, by urging the man to fight him, instead of the woman.

Mark then drove the woman to the nearby , where the store workers called police.

Mark later testified at the trial of the assailant.

Mark told Echo Park Patch he feared for the woman's life, which is probably why he instinctively stopped the car to help out.

Hear Robert Mark tell what happened in his own words in the accompanying video.