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Police: Good Samaritan pulls woman from car where husband was beating her

WINTER PARK, Fla. — Two good Samaritans are being credited with jumping to a woman's rescue while her husband was allegedly attacking her inside a car in Winter Park on Monday.

Winter Park police said the woman's husband, Robert Potchen, was beating her after the couple left a marital counseling office on Fairbanks Avenue.

Police said witnesses saw Potchen beating his wife in a car when another man opened the door and pulled her out of the truck.

Kimberly Groves and her coworker, Jamie Koczan, ran outside of their office building to get the license plate number but when they heard the woman's screams, they jumped into action.

"The guy had her by her waist and legs. I was just tugging her out of the truck," Koczan said. "When I got her out, she yelled and said, 'He's got a gun.' (I) looked up and saw him with the gun pointed at my face."

Everyone ran inside, and the workers locked the front door, but Potchan smashed the glass and got in, police said. He then went straight to an office where Groves and Potchan's wife were hiding.

"I opened the door to make sure it was locked and it was locked and right then I look up and he's standing there with the gun in his hand and I just slammed the door," said Groves.

"He kept saying, 'I'm going to shoot if you don't open the door,'" said Groves. "I said, 'I can't open the door. Just don't shoot me. I can't open the door.'"

Witnesses said they wondered what might have happened to the woman if the domestic incident happened somewhere other than a populated office plaza.

"It was a perfect stranger just trying to protect her from being beaten and he witnessed her being beaten, and if it had been 30 seconds later, I might have been the guy dragging the woman out of the car," said witness Michael Young.

Potchen fled from the office building and approached a woman in the parking lot and stole her cellphone, police said.  He later turned himself in to authorities.

His wife was not seriously hurt and left the scene grateful to the strangers who risked their own lives for her.

"She said thank you and wrapped her arms around me and gave me a long hug," Koczan said.