Paris in spring gets me all conflicted

I was in Paris on Monday, with a friend. We were ordering lunch on a cafe terrace when a homeless guy comes up to the waiter and asks to use the toilet. (Big assumption, I know - he may not have been homeless, but he had sores all over and was obviously drunk.) The waiter replies that there is no toilet in the restaurant. By this point, I'm feeling sorry for the guy, but I can also see the waiter's point of view - I can't imagine it pulls in a lot of customers if you have homeless people lining up for your cafe's toilet.

From this point on, the situation deteriorates rapidly. The guy starts gesturing, slurring his words, and tries to get to the toilet. The waiter (over)reacts and brusquely shoves the guy, who ends up on the pavement in front of the cafe. Passers-by try to help him up, but this takes a while, as he is now even more disoriented. Next thing we know, the guy comes and grabs some cutlery from a nearby table and throws a fork at the waiter, who is standing next to our table. A glass shatters all over the table and the floor.

Now my friend and I are getting scared and leg it to the back of the terrace. The guy is still holding the knife and shouting at the waiter and everyone in general. This is when the small town car arrives and three muscly men jump out. They look like a local mob or something. One of them is menacingly putting on leather gloves. The other two go into the cafe to talk to the staff. They eye the homeless guy but leave him alone.

The guy now retreats to the end of the square, where he confers with a friend and loses the knife. Everyone on the terrace returns to their meals. The three guys stay, obviously waiting for the next scene. They have judged the situation well, because about five minutes later, the guy returns, holding a nearly empty bottle of liquor. He smashes the bottle on a post right in front of the cafe and waves it about before approaching the first tables.

This is when the three men make their move. The gloved one grabs him and takes him into the square. The other two have to help, because the guy is now going all out, knowing that the game is up. They take (drag) him to behind a kiosk. Then they pull out their police badges (phew), let the guy sit down and take his shoes off (double phew), and talk to him very calmly and obviously in a very friendly way until a police van comes to take him away.

Now I was feeling really bad for the guy, because to start with he really only wanted to use the toilet. Then I started to wonder what had been his intention all along. He must have known he was not going to get to go to the toilet in that place. There are quite a few public toilets in Paris, so there were other options. It was also about thirty degrees and really humid, and not a good day to be fending for yourself in Paris. I'm wondering if he wasn't looking for a break - a hot meal, a wash, a place to sleep. He never actually hurt anyone, he only hit the glass. I'm hoping that was what he was aiming for, but he was probably just drunk or really needing a pee.