cell phones in my neighborhood

I was walking down Mass Ave when I saw a commotion in a gas station parking lot. I could tell a couple of people were shouting at each other, but they were on the other side of the pumps so I couldn't see them very clearly. It sounded like a fight starting to spiral out of control, and I wanted to run away. There were a handful of other people in the parking lot, but they seemed to be backing away as shouting escalated to slaps and pushing. I'm not sure what happened next, but I heard what sounded like a scream of serious pain.

( Details may be triggery )

And I called 911. When the conflict started and other observers walked away, I don't know if one of them called 911. One thing about cell phones is that you can report a situation of interest to the police, quite close to other people who need not have any idea you're doing it.

I heard the boy screaming as the man pulled him behind a nearby house. He shouted, "Somebody please help me!" and "That's not my dad!" just it says to do in the "Stranger Danger" pamphlets the local little girls bring home from school. It was wrenching to know he believed I had backed down and didn't want to help him. (But of course my comfort is not the point.) I was a block away when the police car pulled up. I don't know what happened next.