When man with knife wrestles cop, two civilians don't just sit around and record 'next viral video

When a police officer observed a disturbance in Stanton, Kentucky, on Sunday and tried to arrest the suspect, things didn't proceed very smoothly.

Coty Sparks fled on foot, WLEX-TV reported. But when the officer caught up with him, a dangerous struggle ensued — primarily because Sparks was carrying a pocket knife and was trying to reach it as he wrestled with the cop on the ground.

How did a pair of witnesses react?

Austin Tharpe and Oppie Anthony Garner noticed the scary scene unfolding and decided they couldn't just sit idly by, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported.

The pair pulled over to help, Tharpe told the paper, and held Sparks’ arms so the officer could grab the pocket knife.

“They do so much for us and to see him having trouble getting the guy to listen, it seemed like it was best to help out with the situation, especially since he had a knife,” Tharpe told the Herald-Leader. “Someone could have easily gotten hurt.”

Garner added to the paper that he “was just trying to help out. It’s a small town. Just about everybody knows everybody.”

What happened to the suspect?

Sparks was arrested and charged with fleeing police and resisting arrest, the Herald-Leader reported, citing police, and he was served two bench warrants on other court cases.

What did police have to say about the men who helped the officer?

“These two individuals did the right thing by stepping in to help law enforcement rather than standing around hoping to record the next viral video on their phones,”police department said in a statement, the paper added.

(H/T: Blue Lives Matter)