Mormon Bishop Scares Off Attacker With Samurai Sword

Kent Hendrix is also a martial arts instructor
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 24, 2013 2:25 PM CDT
Mormon Bishop Scares Off Attacker With Samurai Sword
Kent Hendrix, 47, draws his sword near his house Tuesday, April 23, 2013, in Salt Lake City.   (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

When Kent Hendrix woke up yesterday to his teenage son telling him someone was being attacked in front of their house, he did what any self-respecting Mormon bishop/martial arts instructor/fourth-degree black belt holder/weapons collector would do: He grabbed his Samurai sword, ran outside, drew the sword on the attacker, and then ran after the man—barefoot. Suspect Grant Eggersten got away, but Hendrix picked up a ChapStick he dropped and memorized his license plate. "I yelled at him, 'I've got your DNA and I've got your license plate: You are so done,'" Hendrix recalls.

Eggersten, 37, turned himself in about an hour later, the AP reports. The incident started when a woman, one of Hendrix's neighbors, left her house around 7am. Eggersten, who had allegedly been stalking her, jumped out from his hiding spot behind her carport and allegedly knocked her down, took her keys, and tried to get into her house, police say. She ran down the street yelling for help, which is when Hendrix, 47, and others came to her aid. When Eggersten saw the sword, "his eyes got as big as saucers and he kind of gasped and jumped back," Hendrix says. "He's probably never had anyone draw a sword on him before." (More weird crimes stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X