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Swedish Police Break Up Subway Brawl on 6 Train, Witnesses Say

 Erik Näslund, 26, Samuel Kvarzell, 25, Makrus Åsberg, 25, and  Eric Jansberger, 28, helped break up a fight in a crowded 6 train on Wednesday.
Erik Näslund, 26, Samuel Kvarzell, 25, Makrus Åsberg, 25, and Eric Jansberger, 28, helped break up a fight in a crowded 6 train on Wednesday.
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DNAinfo/Lisha Arino

NOHO — Four Swedish police officers — tourists on their way to see a Broadway show — dropped everything to help break up a fight on a crowded subway car at rush hour, witnesses said.

A tussle between straphangers broke out on a northbound 6 train at the Bleecker Street stop just before 5 p.m., witnesses said. The train's conductor held the subway car at the station, waiting for police and asked if there were any officers onboard, witnesses said.

That's when the Swedish policemen in the next car, headed to see Les Miserables, stepped up. Makrus Åsberg, 25, was among them, and saw two men grappling on the floor of the car, one with a bloody mouth.

"They were lying on the floor, one on top of the other," he said.

Åsberg couldn't tell what the two were fighting about and was more concerned about everyone's safety.

"We got to make sure that nobody gets hurt," he said. "Try to calm them down without hurting them."

Another witness to the brawl, Oscar, 24, an NYU student who did not want to give his last name because he is job hunting, had just hopped on the train at Bleecker Street when he heard the conductor's announcement. He stepped back on the platform to figure out what was going on and saw a commotion in a nearby car.

“Bystanders were telling [one man] to calm down but he was resisting and going crazy, he was shouting,” he said. 

The four Swedish officers said they tackled the belligerent man, two of them grabbing his arms and the other two pinning down his legs.

"One of the guys tried to wrestle us so [we] wrestled him to the floor until the police came," Samuel Kvarzell, 25, another one of the Swedish officers said. "They were screaming."

"We don't have [any] authority or anything but we thought somebody might need help," he said.

The NYPD did not have any information immediately available about the subway brawl and the MTA declined to comment deferring to the NYPD.

The men said after NYPD police got to the scene, then continued on their way.

"We're just regular tourists," Åsberg said. "Is this a big deal?"