Charges have been dropped against a Bensonhurst father arrested over allegedly protecting his son from being attacked .

The outcome is considered a victory for Ting Duo Lei and his family, but they still have a long road ahead in terms of recovery..

This all started back in September when Lei was charged with assault for behavior that he and his legal team say was self-defense. That charge was dropped in court Thursday.

Lei was first charged with assault on Sept. 30 days after his son was involved in a fist fight at school. Following that fight, Lei says a relative of the boy his 13-year-old son was fighting with showed up to their family home with a baseball bat looking to harm his son. That man was identified as Hassan Saab, 24.

Their altercation was caught on camera, and Lei says he acted out of self-defense for himself and his son.

Lei says he was left with staples in his head among other injuries. Lei and Saab were both arrested. Since then, the community has held rallies for the charges against Lei to be dropped.

Lei's attorney says they are hoping to have the charges against Saab raised and the incident be investigated as a hate crime.