Robbery in motion- off the bus onto the tube

So I am on the tube and I see 5 young "yobs" which is the best description of hooded 18-20 year olds travelling in a pack causing trouble. They push through the train and I go back to reading.

They get off at my stop and threw something at a young woman and banged on the tube doors.

I'm usually reading a book, but I decide this is a better time to be wary, put my book away, place my bag over my shoulder properly, and uncap my pen and hold it in my fist inside my pocket.

I check into the tube to see the two bewilldered girls and look back up at the youth laughing and then running up the stairs.

I follow warily, and they cross the street in front of me. The blockbuster they tried to go into is closed, and I walk past them, checking inside the windowpanes for anyone getting close to me. I'm not nervous, but calculating.

I see a young woman with a large cary bag on my left going to her car as I walk past and I think to myself, dangerous target, I hope she is wary too. I kept going.

I'm half a block away and I hear the pelting and running of the youth, laughing as they rush past me, followed quickly by screams for help "I'll give you anything, money, whatever you want, pleeaaaseee" she continuously screams.

I run after the youth half heartedly, trying to keep contact and within visual range, but aware I'm all by myself, with a bag, a plastic pen, and a nice suite...

A truck pulls in with two guys looking out, I wave at them, they are around the corner, and I rush in... it's a blind alleyway, 5 little criminals, darkness, and me. I stay back. The guys in the truck observe then drive away.

I walk back and two of the young guys are lurking in the bush, I move towards them and they run off... neither had the bag, what's the point?

Now a little group of people gather around the frantic woman, it has all her keys, wallet, all her work on her laptop, she is alone... no shoes on.

We're standing there and a yobbish looking bloke tries to saunter out across the green, the place they had run into was a culdesac, the only exit was to launch over a security fence onto the tube lines. I can't recognize him, but I stop him. He gets irrate with me. I tell him he looks like one of the guys who was part of it. He claims innocence, gets angry with me for accusing him of "looking like a criminal" and says "he would never cause a young woman so much misery" he then asks for a fag and one of the guys gives him one, some of the women who have gathered apologize to him and say no one was accusing him.

I walk up and say, "what are you doing here."

"Visiting a friend."

"What is his name?"

"Punch you..."

"Go ahead, that would make things a lot easier."

"Charlie Hackle, punch you is his tag."

"Fuck off."

He goes around and mingles and then walks off. I'm annoyed, I should grab the fucker, but really, what's my interest? He'll deny it, no one saw him do anything, he has no bag on him, the victim doesn't recognize him... Still I should have grabbed him till the cops came, the others aren't as keen though.

The cops come, calm the lady down. I go to the tube station to see if any of them have tried to go back.

We mill around waiting for the cops, but they don't need any statements unless we actually witnessed the snatch. None of us have. I offer to escort the attractive blonde home, she's nervous. I give her my card, we walk, she's from Brazil, USA, Birmingham. She'd never been robbed once in Brazil, or in the states, in Birmingham she was mugged twice and burgled once.

An aspiring actress, was rather pleased to meet her. But I'm still aggravated. I made the right calculation, the 5 of them could have beat me down and probably enjoyed caving my head in, but I was still tempted to run in, although I am pretty certain most people would have watched me get shit kicked.

I have decided I did what I could, that I would have done more if a vigilante crew had formed, but my philosophy of a fight is finish the fuckers hard, so I'd probably be in a jail cell with a ruined suit and a black eye with the laptop still gone, and my bag too...

So I've decided next time I'm in a situation like that I'll aim for a preventative approach. I'll take the warnings and stay with the woman instead of walking past and minding my own business. I knew she was a good target, and I should have taken responsibility for that.

Still hoping the attractive brazilian girl gives me a call...