Update: Greenberrys manager James Earl Anderson said a few minutes ago that he had learned from the Fairfax County police that the young man who attacked a woman customer had been released to his father.

The young man lives a facility for the "severely" disabled and was spending the day with his dad, Anderson said he learned from police.

Earlier: A young man attacked a woman as she sat in the popular Greenberrys Coffee shop in downtown McLean about 3pm Sunday.

The woman was talking with a friend when the young man, who was with his father , "walked up behind her put one hand around her throat and another around her face and tried to drag her to the ground," said James Earl Anderson, closing manager on the weekends who witnessed the incident.

"As he tried to bring her down, she pushed him off of her and he fell. After he fell down, I was on top of him and screaming at him. Once I realized he was mentally handicapped, there is the mental quandary in how much force I apply," said Anderson, who is a veteran of the 29th Infantry Division.

The woman screamed, getting the attention of the small group of customers in the coffeeshop. Another customer, attorney Terrence Brown, helped Anderson restrain the young man.

"His father wrapped his arms him to control him and walked him away," Anderson said.

Anderson told another worker to call 911.The woman, helped by  her friend, went to the back of the shop. Anderson told  father and son to go to the front of the coffeeshop. The father said there was no need to call the police and tried to leave. Anderson ordered them to stay.

Police and the fire department arrived at Greenberrys within minutes. The young man and his father left with the police. Firemen treated the shaken woman who had a cut and bruise on her cheek. Her husband arrived shortly to help her.

"The injuries she received were the result of him clawing at her face as he tried to drag her down, "  Anderson said.

No one knew what, if anything, triggered the incident. 

The father is a regular customer at Greenberrys and he is sometimes accompanied by his son.