A professor was punched in the face twice after trying to stop a knife fight.
Luke Garrott, a political science professor and City Councilman for Salt Lake District 4, tried to break up a conflict between two men that occurred close to his home Sept. 7. Police said they received a call at about 2:06 p.m. that 41-year-old Silas Harper, armed with a knife, was fighting with an unidentified man at about 655 S. 500 East. When Garrott and several neighbors heard the commotion, they rushed outside to try to stop the fight.
By the time Garrott arrived, the unidentified man had run away, and Harper was now fighting with Lynn Frandsin, another neighbor.
Frandsin was wielding a crowbar, and seemed to be escalating the situation and threatened to “whack” Harper, Garrott said.
Harper punched Garrott twice in the face when he tried to intervene.
“At least he hit me with his fist and not his knife, so I guess that showed some restraint on his part,” Garrott said.
Police arrested the knife-wielding man on suspicion of aggravated assault, simple assault and vehicle vandalism. While being booked into Salt Lake County jail, Harper kicked a police officer. The other man ran away and was not caught, said Lara Jones, a spokeswoman for Salt Lake City Police Department.
“We were able to stall them long enough for police to arrive and handle it, so it all worked out in the end,” he said.
Garrott said he was not seriously injured.
“It turned out for the best; neither of them attacked each other,” he said.
Luke Garrott