Most people on a busy street keep moving. Late Wednesday in Miami, Arnett Johnson did the opposite, and police say that decision may have saved a child’s life.

Johnson, who said he has been sleeping on a bench for months after serving time in prison, saw a young boy wandering alone near Seventh Avenue and Seventeenth Street. It was late in the evening, and Johnson said something about it immediately felt wrong.

“I’m looking around for the parent, but I looked and I don’t see nobody… so what is this kid doing out here seven at night?” Johnson recalled to CBS 12.

Instead of walking away, Johnson called the police and stayed with the child until officers arrived.

Police later praised Johnson’s response.

“This was a Good Samaritan that was sleeping in the streets and called us and gave us that information,” Officer Mike Vega said.

“Kudos to him, as we don’t know what could have happened to this child if he would have remained out in the street.”

Investigators later learned the boy had been missing for more than 12 hours, according to the report. The child told authorities that his mother had dropped him off and left him.

She was arrested on charges of child neglect.

Johnson, despite his own circumstances, played down the attention.

“Anybody would have done the same thing I did,” he said.