Mick Betancourt is a veteran writer, producer and director with a long list of credits on dramas and action series such as the most recent seasons starring Alan Ritchson The arrivalwitnesses a violent crime occurring in real time on New York City’s Lower East Side as if it were ripped straight from one of his scripts.
Instead of sitting idly by and seeing how things play out from afar, he springs into action to hunt down the suspect – spoiler alert! – He ended up in handcuffs by the time the horrific incident was over. But not before Betancourt dashed about a half-mile (or more) while chasing the suspect for more than 15 minutes, a scene that had an ebb and flow that ended just in time for Betancourt to make an early dinner reservation with his wife.
“I grew up in a chaotic, violent area with some violence in my home, and I felt like I could do something about it, even though I don’t know if any of the Brown or Harvard guys I worked with pursued men in that way,” said the Chicago native, whose resume includes work as a series director, writer, executive producer, director and actor. “I also don’t know what the gods have in store for me now, so perhaps this is my last journey.”
It started late in the afternoon of Friday, April 10, when Betancourt and his wife were standing near their hotel, the Nine Orchard, near Canal Street, and saw a man walk past them. “I spotted a bottle of alcohol in the runner’s left hand, a short, full bottle, like Don Giulio. I turned to my wife and said, ‘It’s about to hit the fan,'” Betancourt detailed in a new Substack post published Sunday titled “To Chase or Not to Chase, That’s the Question.”
Moments later, Betancourt, who turned 52 in recent days, spotted a man in his mid-50s, someone he assumed was the owner of a nearby store where the alleged robbery occurred, running after the suspect. He caught up with him and a fight broke out, all of which Betancourt witnessed.
“While they were wrestling, I looked around and no one was helping me. No one jumped — including me,” Betancourt writes, adding that he was thinking of the worst possible outcomes if he got involved. “In the blink of an eye, during a stand-up wrestling match, the robber grabbed one of the shopkeeper’s legs, lifted it, and literally slammed the shopkeeper from a standing position, hitting his head on the concrete. That sound is an unforgettable one. The entire building, watching, gasped, said ‘oh fuck’ or screamed. The shopkeeper’s body went limp, his eyes rolled to the back of his head and his arms flopped to his sides as if he’d been crucified.”
Betancourt assumed the store owner was dead based on his body language. He made a split-second decision to take action. “I didn’t want to go back to the scene and see them pulling a sheet over the guy or putting caution tape around him and think I could have done something at that moment,” he said. So, when the suspect started running, Betancourt “chased” him by kicking him as fast as she could.
He showed the vast and tense scene in detail, running after the man across several blocks of New York City. “God cursed me with little alligator legs, but in a cruel twist of fate and irony, he made those hairy little bastards as fast as lightning,” Betancourt wrote.
At some point, he caught up with him and shouted: “Get on the ground now!” The serious direction gave the man pause, and he slowed his pace long enough for the men to exchange words. The suspect also seemed certain the man was mortally wounded, telling Betancourt that his actions were in self-defense. Betancourt, who has been in recovery for more than two decades, tried to reason with the man because he thought he might be in the throes of addiction.
Their exchange was short because the man did not give up and ran away again. But Betancourt will not give up. He set off after him again, and when he momentarily lost where he was, he called for help from two old women who were of little help in pointing in the right direction. In a twist of fate, Betancourt then ran past Housing Authority police officers who assisted in the effort and eventually requested backup from the New York Police Department.
Betancourt noted that four New York Police cars arrived at the scene, one of which carried the store owner, who was alive, on alert and came to identify the alleged thief while pressing a bag of ice to his head. “I couldn’t believe it. I really thought he was dead,” wrote Betancourt, who was then able to make an official statement and meet his wife, who was still outside the hotel. “When I got back to the hotel, a woman who worked there and saw it all start called me a hero. No, she thought I was a coward and decided to do something about it.”
Hollywood Reporter Verify the incident with the NYPD. A spokesperson for the Office of the Deputy Commissioner for Public Information confirmed that 35-year-old Issa Muhammad was arrested and charged with third-degree robbery and second-degree assault after he stole two bottles of alcoholic beverages from a store on Grand Street. The 37-year-old man, who was injured in the alleged assault, was taken to New York City Health & Hospitals/Bellevue in stable condition. The investigation is ongoing.
As for Betancourt, he was exposed to the gas in his legs and it took a few hours to relieve the pressure, but he is now back home and back to work in the upcoming fifth season of The arrival As writer and executive producer. He worked on the fourth season, which is expected to debut sometime in 2026. He also worked on the Amazon Prime Video spin-off series, Neglifocused on Frances Negley, played by Maria Steen. Betancourt’s other credits include The Purge, Shootout, Wicked City, Chicago Police, Chicago Fire, Ironside, Necessary Roughness, Mob Doctor, Detroit 1-8-7 and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.
When he returns to set, he’ll have something to talk about with Ritchson after the in-demand star recently had a wild real-life encounter near his Tennessee home that also looked like it could have been ripped from one of his episodes.
