Update: Director of Communications Hilary Nemchik with the City Attorney's Office told NBC 7 the case was under review as of March 13.
A San Diego woman who tried to intervene when she saw a man mistreating women in the Gaslamp Quarter described the moment the man turned to her and said, "OK, I'll hit you then."
"He hit me twice right in the face," Jessica Cox told NBC 7 Thursday.
Cox showed the bruises and cuts left over from the punches she suffered Monday at 8:30 p.m. near the intersection of 6th Avenue and E Street.
Disturbing surveillance video showing the altercation was released by San Diego police to try and find the man involved.
Cox intervened when she saw a man push an older woman with a grocery cart.
"I kind of stepped in to pull them apart and get him off of her," she said.
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Then, when she saw the same man approach another woman, she thought he was going to strike that woman.
The man in the video was arguing with his fiancée, SDPD said, when Cox approached him and told him she was calling the police.
Cox said she told the man it was not OK to touch women or hit women.
"He said, 'OK, I'll hit you," she explained.
That's when the man swung at Cox, striking her in the face with his right hand.
Bystanders jumped in to help her.
"It’s very scary that these things can happen without repercussions to people," Cox said.
The man left the area but his fiancée stayed at the scene but refused to cooperate with investigators, even giving them a false name, police said.
Three days later, Cox stood in the same section of downtown and described her injuries. Her face was swollen and there were cuts on her cheek from the ring on the man's hand.
Although her eye was black and blue from her nose to her cheekbone, X-rays confirmed no bones were broken.
"When I saw the video, it was very frightening and I could not watch the whole thing," Cox said.
Working with police officials, she has identified the man through pictures.
On Thursday, NBC 7 learned the District Attorney's office likely would not press felony charges against the man but he was expected to face misdemeanor charges, according to SDPD.
On Friday, the District Attorney's Office clarified the investigation into the incident saying a liaison from the office may have said the actions "might not rise to the level of felony conduct" but that the office "would definitely not make a hard and fast filing decision until someone is actually in custody and we have all of the evidence," Communications Director Steve Walker said.
"I will follow through and if he gets picked up for something else, I will make sure he goes to jail," she said.
Cox said she approached a San Diego police officer on the night it happened and the officer declined to arrest the man. While she said that was frustrating, she said the detectives who are working on the case now are making her feel like they care about her safety.
