A video of a cyclist punched on Yonge Street has shocked Toronto residents, in part because it seemed as though nobody stopped to help, but the man who shot the video says people did intervene to aid the injured man and stop the offender.

Toronto residents do care, says Brandon Curtas.

People formed what Curtas described as a "human blockade" around the car of a driver who punched the cyclist in early June to prevent him from leaving before police arrived, Curtas told CBC Radio's Metro Morning on Tuesday.

People on the right attend to a cyclist who was punched by a driver and knocked off his bike on Yonge Street north of College Street on June 8. (Brandon Curtas) People walk towards a vehicle driven by the man who punched the cyclist. They stood in front of his vehicle until police arrived to arrest him for assault. (Brandon Curtas) Curtas, a cyclist himself, said about a dozen people walked over to the cyclist immediately after the assault on Yonge Street just north of College Street on June 8 at about 5:20 p.m.. About six stayed with the cyclist to make sure he was all right, while another half dozen or so stood in front of the vehicle of the man who committed the assault.

"It was the right thing to do. Absolutely," Curtas said. "We stood there around his car making sure he couldn't go anywhere and waited until the police showed up and then they took it from there."

In the video, the cyclist appears to have been southbound on Yonge Street in the curb lane before the stoplight at Grosvenor Street. A man comes running up on the sidewalk, approaches the cyclist, and strikes him across the face. The cyclist falls off his bike and onto the street in front of several vehicles.

Several pedestrians turn their heads to see what is happening but keep walking. The cyclist gets up and back on his feet. The video ends there.

Focus should be on those who helped, man says

Curtas contacted Metro Morning to explain exactly what happened after the assault. He said the cyclist wasn't left to fend for himself.

A man is captured on camera pushing a cyclist off of his bike near Yonge and Grosvenor. 0:20 "The focus, I don't think, should necessarily be on the ones that kept walking. It should be on the dozen or so people that sprung into action, went over, helped the gentlemen get up, made sure he was okay, and the other half that tried again to do the right thing by preventing the guy from leaving, which was what he did attempt to do," he said.

"The precursor to that was that he was unhappy with the cyclist's behaviour."

Curtas said he didn't see what happened before the assault. The bottom line, however, is that the bystander effect wasn't in play in this situation, he added.

"I wanted to change the misconception that there aren't people in this city that are willing to spring into action, to help each other, to stand up for each other and to take care of each other," he said.

People do care in Toronto, man says

"That's not the case at all. There are a lot of people that care about their fellow person in this city."

Curtas released the video to CBC Toronto to show the challenges that vulnerable road users face daily. He said it's important to remember that cyclists are human beings with families, and if drivers hurt cyclists, they hurt everyone in their lives.

He said he carries a camera with him as a precaution because he has been hit twice while riding a bicycle and the drivers who hit him tried to change their stories. Bystanders were able to tell the truth, he said. He wants to be able to tell his side of the story if it happens again.

Toronto police said the driver was charged with assault and released. He is due in court at College Park on July 19.