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BOUNTIFUL — Rob Stratton couldn't believe what he was seeing unfold in front of him.
The passenger door of a vehicle in front of his opened, and "this lady stumbled out of the car, just covered in blood on her arm and up on her neck," Stratton said.
What happened next was even more shocking.
"I thought, 'This can't be good,'" he said. "'Something bad is happening.'"
Stratton was being called a hero by police Thursday for possibly saving a woman's life by tackling a man who investigators say stabbed and tried to run over the woman, his wife, allegedly because she talked about divorce.
The incident began Thursday morning in Centerville where Stepan Badikyan, 50, allegedly assaulted Anahit Markosyan, 43, at their home, said Bountiful Police Lt. Dave Edwards.
Badikyan then put his wife in the car to drive her to seek medical attention, Edwards said.
But just before 9:30 a.m., when the car stopped for a red light near 400 North and 500 West, the woman jumped out of the vehicle and tried to run away, Edwards said.
Badikyan responded by attempting to run her over, police said. He ended up running over the curb and driving over the landscape before hitting a rock. Stratton said the man got out of the car, holding what appeared to be a knife, and ran after the woman.
"He caught to her from behind and looked like he was stabbing her in the side with this knife, just stabbing her repeatedly," Stratton said. "I just reacted. … I just saw someone who was in serious trouble and needed help. Thankfully I wasn't the only one who saw that. I just happened to be the one that got there first."
I just saw someone who was in serious trouble and needed help. Thankfully I wasn't the only one who saw that. I just happened to be the one that got there first.
–Rob Stratton
Stratton said he tackled Badikyan and tried to keep him on the ground by pushing the man's face to the pavement and sticking a knee in his back.
"All of a sudden I feel his hand moving, and he's trying to slit his wrist," Stratton said, "and I look down, and he has four or five cuts. I mean, he was just going at his wrist."
Stratton pulled the man's arm back and knocked the box cutter he was holding out of his hand. He then sat on top of Badikyan until police arrived.
Other people at a nearby store saw what was happening and also ran to help the woman. In all, three men held Badikyan down.
Badikyan and Markosyan both were taken to Lakeview Hospital. Neither had life-threatening injuries, Edwards said. Badikyan will be booked into jail upon his from the hospital, police said.
Stratton said the man did not say anything while he struggled with him. He also said he doesn't consider himself a hero. It was just a situation he reacted to without thinking about it first, he said.
"For a normal person like me, it's not something I prepare for every day," Stratton said. "Had I really thought about it, I might not have done anything."
Contributing: Peter Samore
