What Would You Have Done?

To intervene, or not to intervene--that is the question. Is the racial angle relevant? Do you have more authority to intervene if you're a parent? What if the mother was older? What if the intervenor was female? What if the setting were different? What if the child was a boy? What if the parent were a man? At what point, if any, would you have called the cops?

I'm not a parent, so I have a feeling my answers are going to be different than those who are. My friend A intervened in a similar situation in a mall parking lot once. The results were not pretty ... and I wondered what repercussions there might be for the kid.

Anyway, discuss!