Drunks

Most of you have heard this already, but I might as well post it.

Last Friday I made a quick "glance at the sun" dash to the store in true
Adventist fashion. I bought the things I needed and headed back to the school.
The store where I do most of my shopping is less than five minutes walk from the school, and I go there every other day or so. There's only one street to cross, so I run most of the way there for the sheer joy of running. I seldom run on the way back though, because I have to carry the groceries.
This time as I walked along the sidewalk a man blocked my path. This meant only one thing: he wanted me to give him money. It's happened to me a few times before, and it's never very pleasant. Beggars usually sit with a box in front of them, and street children have mostly moved to selling things instead of begging. If someone blocks your path they are not begging.

"Give me T500" he said (about 40 cents)
I would have done so, except that he had blocked my path, he was drunk, and all my money was in a wad. It's not smart to take out a wad of cash when someone blocks your path and tells you to give them money.
"No" I said.
"I need it for the bus" he said, and I believed him.
"No" I said.
"Give me T500" he said.
"I don't have any money" I said, lying.
"%$#@!, right" he said, swearing in Mongolian.
"%*$#@! you" I responded, also in Mongolian.
At this he became extremely angry and grabbed on to my arm. I regretted swearing. It never does me any good when I swear in Mongolian (or English, come to think of it) and that ignores the moral aspects of the whole thing.
There were people passing by all this time, and I hoped that someone would peel him off of me. I had no such luck. Instead the man turned and called to two other men who were coming towards us. They quickened their pace. Apparently they were his friends.
Fortunately when he turned to call them he let go of my arm. Not wanting to get into a fist fight (which I would no doubt lose) I ducked to the side and ran for the school.

So, aside from the swearing, several people have chastised me for how I handled the situation. They said that I shouldn't have lied and I said I didn't have any money. Let's take a vote. Is this kind of self preservation lie moral / ethical? I'd like to add that people usually leave you alone here if you say you don't have any money... ya know, just to say it.
Vote in the comments.