A woman being chased and attacked by a former coworker was saved when her neighbors came to the rescue.
One neighbor, a bishop in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, was among them. When Kent Hendrix's son heard the woman's screams, he roused his father.
"I threw on some clothes and grabbed my sword," Hendrix said to the Salt Lake Tribune.
Hendrix works as a pharmaceutical statistician and also teaches martial arts. He earned a fourth-degree black belt in the martial art known as Kishindo. His weapon is a 29-inch steel samurai sword, which he has had since he was 17 years old.
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By the time Hendrix got out of bed and retrieved his sword, a group of other neighbors had surrounded the man. Hendrix said the suspect was surprised at the sight of the sword and began to run away.
The assailant dropped a Chapstick in his escape and Hendrix picked it up as evidence. He wanted to make sure the stalker was caught, so he also took note of the license plate number on the man's car.
Lt. Justin Hoyal of Unified Police said the attacker and the victim had a professional relationship at work, but the relationship dissipated after they stopped working together.
Hoyal also said the woman had previously obtained a stalking injunction against the man.
The man turned himself in to police an hour later and was booked into the Salt Lake County jail on suspicion of robbery, attempted burglary, trespassing and violating a stalking injunction.
"The victim did everything right," Hoyal said. "Screaming, hollering for help, ultimately alerting neighbors who came to her aid. These neighbors did a great job helping the victim."
