A Halifax man is facing a charge of assault after allegedly attacking a woman who almost bumped into him while texting and walking.

Passing taxi driver Amer Abdo saw the incident on Friday around 4:00 p.m. as he was driving down Inglis Street with two passengers in the back seat.

"Two blocks ahead of me I kind of saw what looked like two couples fighting,” says Abdo. “Then when I got closer, it was this big guy that slammed this student, a younger girl, to the ground, next to a tree."

Abdo then backed up his taxi, and confronted the man.

“I said, y'know, ‘What are you doin'?’...and he just looked at me aggressively, and just walked away,” says Abdo. "I was thinking the whole time, he cannot get away with it."

Abdo helped the young woman off the sidewalk, got her into his taxi, and then followed the man down the street to a gas station. 

Abdo then called police, waiting until they arrived. When police arrived, the man was arrested on a charge of assault.

"The 40-year-old male suspect will appear in court here in Halifax on May 23rd" says Halifax Regional Police S/Sgt. Richard Lane.

Police also say the woman and man were not known to each other.

The victim was shaken up, crying and covered with dirt, but not seriously injured..

It’s the kind of story the local taxi industry could use right now.

There were protests in early March after a cab driver was acquitted on a charge of sexually assaulting a female passenger. The crown announced it would appeal the decision after comments by the judge prompted a public outcry.

The co-owner of the taxi company Abdo works for says she's proud of him.

"There's so many bad news stories about drivers that have hit the media, but the reality is that that's just a small percentage of the drivers,” says Angie Herman. “We actually have really great, amazing drivers every day who are really caring.”

Abdo says he isn't some kind of hero; he just instinctively reacted when someone needed help. He says he was surprised that nearby pedestrians made no effort to intervene.

With files from CTV Atlantic’s Ron Shaw