Actor Dev Patel breaks up a knife fight during a stabbing in Australia

Dev Patel and his friends reportedly saw the altercation and the actor 'acted on his natural instinct to try and de-escalate the situation and break up the fight'. Photo: AFP

Slumdog Millionaire and Lion actor Dev Patel attempted to break up a knife fight during a stabbing in Australia, but he doesn’t seem to want any credit for being a good Samaritan.

The melee occurred Monday (Aug 1) in Adelaide, Australia, where the British actor lives with his girlfriend and Hotel Mumbai co-star Tilda Cobham-Hervey. Patel, 32, was seen speaking to police after witnessing the stabbing around 8.45pm (local time) on Monday, according to 7NEWS.com.au.

The actor is said to have witnessed a street fight between a man and a woman that took place outside a convenience store and moved into a nearby service station where witnesses attempted to break it up.

The woman allegedly stabbed the man in the chest during the altercation, the news outlet reported, and the man was treated at the scene, then taken to a hospital for non-life-threatening injuries. The woman, who reportedly knew the man, was arrested and charged with aggravated assault causing harm and has been refused bail.

Police told 7News that the incident was not random.

Patel and his friends reportedly saw the “violent altercation” and Patel “acted on his natural instinct to try and de-escalate the situation and break up the fight”, representatives for the actor said Tuesday in a statement to the L.A. Times.

“The group was thankfully successful in doing so, and they remained on site to ensure that the police and eventually the ambulance arrived,” they said.

The Oscar-nominated actor was photographed talking to law enforcement after the incident when emergency services were called to the area.

But Patel brushed off credit for the heroic act via his representatives, who said, “There are no heroes in this situation.”

"[S]adly this specific incident highlights a larger systemic issue of marginalized members of society not being treated with the dignity and respect they deserve,” they said.

“The hope is that the same level of media attention this story is receiving (solely because Dev, as a famous person, was involved) can be a catalyst for lawmakers to be compassionate in determining long-term solutions to help not only the individuals who were involved but the community at large,” their statement said. – Los Angeles Times/Tribune News Service