I knew nothing about the guy when I met him, but I was creeped out within 5 minutes and have avoided him ever since.

Despair and unhappiness were presented straight away. Despair doesn't scare me away, it was the combination of apparent despair with an inability or unwillingness to be honest on any level. Then there's the obvious possibility that the despair itself was just a ploy. Hard to tell.

If you were to barge in and rescue people, you might find yourself accused of being an arsehole to the guy.