Jul 13, 2012

Girl takes down would-be attacker

(by Paul Nelsen ksl.com 11-5-09)

LINDON UT -- A would-be attacker bumped into the wrong junior high student in Lindon. The 13-year-old girl was able to bring the suspect down with a martial arts move that would make the Ultimate Fighting Championship proud.

It all started innocently enough. The girl was walking home from school and accidentally bumped into a young man on the sidewalk.

"I apologized, but he turned on me and said, ‘Don't mess with me,'" the girl told KSL News.

She asked us not to give her name, but said the attacker punched her in the shoulder and swung for a second punch.

What the suspect may not have known is that she's been studying Tae Kwon Do for the past couple years. And just one day before, she learned a trick called the arm bar, which brought him to his knees.

"Once you have him in the arm bar, you can pretty much control everything," she said. "He was flat on the ground, and I was able to get him on his side."

She then kicked him, aiming for the groin, but might have just hit his stomach. Police say the suspect has not been caught yet.