A woman has come forward with a powerful account of how the late actor James Ransone saved her from a violent sexual assault nearly two decades ago in New York City. The revelation follows the tragic news that Ransone, best known for his role in HBO's The Wire, took his own life last week at the age of 46.
A Terrifying Attack in Chinatown
Molly Watts, posting on Instagram under the handle @mollyxxwatts, detailed the horrifying incident which occurred in 2006. Watts explained that she and Ransone were neighbours in Manhattan's Chinatown area at the time, with friendly, overlapping social circles.
She described being attacked at the threshold of her building. "I screamed for help. No one came," Watts wrote. "My attacker put his hands around my throat so I would stop making noise. I couldn't breathe." She said she felt a certainty that she was going to die or be raped as she was choked unconscious.
Ransone's Heroic Intervention
Hearing her screams, Ransone rushed to her aid. "He came running shirtless, carrying a bat or pipe," Watts recalled. "He scared my attacker, who ran." Ransone then chased the assailant to a nearby building, an action that ultimately helped police identify the man, who was reportedly a repeat sexual offender.
Watts expressed profound gratitude, stating she is unsure if her life would have followed the same positive trajectory without his intervention. "I'm not sure how I would have handled the weight of what could have happened or how long it would take to heal," she said, noting she was emotionally fragile at the time. She shared a link to a GoFundMe for Ransone's family, saying she regretted never telling him how grateful she was.
The Actor's Own Account
Ransone himself spoke about the event in a 2016 interview on SiriusXM's Jim and Sam Show. He said he was watching TV with his then-girlfriend when he heard screams. "I ran down... I could see my upstairs neighbour pinned down on the ground, face up, and this guy was like trying to rape her, basically," he recounted.
He instructed his girlfriend to call the police, grabbed a metal pipe, and confronted the attacker. After a physical altercation where Ransone was assaulted, the man fled. Police apprehended the suspect hours later, and Ransone testified against him in court.
James Ransone was widely recognised for his portrayal of Ziggy Sobotka in the second season of The Wire. His other notable roles included parts in Generation Kill, It: Chapter Two, and The Black Phone.
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