A gnarly confrontation between a Mercedes driver and a skateboarder in New York City's East Village turned into one of the internet's most talked about videos this week after the fight ended with the driver being put in a headlock and reportedly losing consciousness.
The incident happened Tuesday on St. Marks Place near Second Avenue.
While the exact cause of the argument remains unknown, people at the scene told freelance photographer Michael O'Hara that the driver had nearly hit a blond skateboarder and another man with his SUV just before the confrontation escalated.
At first, it looked like another loud street argument that would end with both sides walking away.
That changed when the skateboarder grabbed his board and slammed it into the Mercedes, shattering the front windshield.
O'Hara later said he had seen plenty of strange things before, but watching someone smash a car window with a skateboard was something he had never witnessed.
The viral video begins shortly after the windshield was broken.
The skateboarder can be seen striking the SUV several more times before tossing the board toward the vehicle.
After it bounced away, the driver rushed out of the Mercedes, grabbed the skateboard, and swung it back at its owner, turning the board into a weapon for both sides.
What followed was an awkward but intense fight in the middle of the street as people nearby watched and shouted.
According to O'Hara, the two men were much smaller than the chaos surrounding them suggested, joking that they looked like "two 4 foot 6 dudes" fighting in the middle of Manhattan.
The skateboarder eventually took the driver to the ground and recovered the skateboard once again.
He then struck the driver with it while a woman inside the Mercedes repeatedly screamed for everyone to stop. O'Hara could be heard reacting in disbelief behind the camera as the impact echoed through the street.
The confrontation still was not over. The skateboarder wrapped the driver in a headlock while bystanders tried to separate them.
During the struggle, the skateboarder shouted that he had been attacked. Another man standing nearby yelled that the driver had hit the skateboarder with his vehicle before the fight began.
insane fight broke out on saint marks in front of me today… #nyc @whatisny pic.twitter.com/0pYneVIUtk
— Michael O’Hara (@michael_ohara00) July 15, 2026
O'Hara continued filming for a short time before leaving the area. He later explained that he did not want to get involved and felt the situation was something the two men had chosen to continue themselves.
The footage was uploaded to X, where it quickly collected more than three million views as people debated who was at fault and whether anyone should have stepped in.
According to the New York Police Department, officers arrived to find that the Mercedes driver had lost consciousness while in the headlock.
Emergency crews transported the 34 year old driver to Bellevue Hospital, where he was listed in stable condition.
Police said the skateboarder had already left before officers arrived. No arrests have been made, and the investigation remains ongoing.
After the video spread online, O'Hara received criticism from people who believed he should have tried to stop the fight.
He disagreed with those comments, saying getting involved in an argument between two adults was not his responsibility.
He also shared one piece of advice after learning the driver had been knocked unconscious.
"Don't get out of a car," O'Hara said. "There's no way in hell I would've gotten out of a car to fight somebody."
For now, the viral clip continues to circulate online as investigators work to determine exactly what happened before the cameras started recording and whether any charges will follow.