When his son informed him early yesterday morning that a female neighbor was being attacked, Kent Hendrix, a Mormon bishop from Utah who moonlights as a martial arts instructor, immediately reached for his weapon of choice: A 29-inch high carbon steel Samurai sword.

Hendrix then ran out of his house, barefoot, in the direction of the woman's cries for help. He arrived at the scene of the crime to find the victim engaging in a "melee" with her attacker.

The 47-year-old father of six quickly drew his sword and ordered the man to get on the ground.

"His eyes got as big as saucers and he kind of gasped and jumped back," Hendrix recalled in an interview with the Associated Press. "He's probably never had anyone draw a sword on him before."

The perp took off and Hendrix, still barefoot, attempted to chase him down, but was unable to reach him before the man got in his car and sped away.

Not all was lost, however: Hendrix managed to recover a tube of ChapStick the attacker had dropped, and also memorized his license plate number.

"I yelled at him, 'I've got your DNA and I've got your license plate: You are so done," Hendrix told the AP.

It seems the suspect, since identified as 37-year-old Grant Eggersten, took Hendrix's threats seriously, because he turned himself in to police shortly thereafter.

Eggersten was charged with robbery, attempted burglary, and trespassing.

He had apparently had been stalking the victim for some time — at least long enough to have had a stalking injunction filed against him, which he was also charged with violating.

The woman sustained minor injuries.

As for Hendrix, the fourth-degree Kishindo black belt said he's never used his sword in his 30 years as a martial artist, but has trained with it extensively just in case.

"Some people have bats they go to," he is quoted as saying. "I have my sword."

[photo via AP]