Gabriel Dylan Steinbach rescued Barbara L. Becht from assault, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, March 22, 1998. Ms. Becht, 32, was working at the coffee bar she co-owned when a man armed with a knife approached and, without provocation, stabbed her. She screamed and began to run away but fell to the floor behind the serving counter. Atop her, the assailant continued to stab her. Steinbach, 24, graphics designer, was seated at the counter. He immediately ran around the end of the counter and approached the assailant, then struggled with him, enabling Ms. Becht to flee. Steinbach grasped the assailant’s knife hand, pinned it to the floor, and, other customers then intervening, seized the knife and cast it aside. The customers detained the assailant until police arrived shortly and arrested him. Ms. Becht required hospitalization for treatment of multiple stab wounds, from which she recovered. Steinbach also required hospital treatment, for a knife wound to his right forearm, and he too recovered.
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