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Well, I'm going to go against the general tack of this thread and admit that I wouldn't have physically intervened. I've backed down from a fight before simply because it's a small price to pay to avoid a physical confrontation.
I'm a little surprised at how many people assume that the only solution here was a violent one. It may in fact have reached that point anyway, but there was plenty of time for non-violent intervention here. There was plenty of time for the guy on the cell phone, or any of the other bystanders, or even the owner of the pizza shop to say something like, let's all calm down and see if we can work this out. The police should have been called the moment the woman started freaking out, and then someone--the owner preferably, should have been talking to her in a calm, reassuring voice until the police arrived. The same with her boyfriend the moment he arrived.
My SO is a highly trained martial artist--her mom is a Tae Kwon Do instructor and she's been getting trained in self defense since she learned to walk. She could have taken that guy down like a sack of potatoes. I've seen her do in class. But she wouldn't have. She'd very likely would have talked the woman down--I've seen her do it--or kept her occupied until the police arrived, and the same with her boyfriend. Violence should always be the last resort, and only in defense. This has, in fact, been pounded into her from the time she started training. Step one: Defuse the situation. Don't escalate. It's better to talk for an hour than fight for a minute. In some 20 years of martial arts training, she's never been in a fight outside of sparring in a dojo. This is because she will deescalate, defuse and/or walk away if possible. She no doubt would have intervened after the first punch, but it really wouldn't have gotten there, partly because a guy is less likely to hit a woman speaking nicely to him than a big guy ignoring him.
Cell phone guy very likely was trying to send a message to the woman who cut in front of him. This was a mistake. Note that I am not placing any blame on cell phone guy--the fault is entirely that of the man who attacked him and the woman who provoked the attack. I'm not saying that he shouldn't have pointed out her rude behavior either, but the manner in which he did it could use some improvement. I would likely have said something like, "Excuse me, Ma'am, but you really should get in line at the end of the line, behind all of the people who were already here, thus being polite and implicitly enlisting the help of the others. Being calm and polite in the face of rudeness throws people off guard; they're not expecting it.
The victim is very likely going to get an out of court settlement for whatever the maximum amount is on the Pizza places owner's liability insurance, and the $25,000 mentioned earlier is a very common amount of coverage for that. It likely would cost something similar for the insurance company to defend against the lawsuit, so out court settlement for the liability limit is very likely, and very common in situations like this.
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