On June 16, Jerome Forney had finished donating plasma and was waiting for the bus at Cullen and Bellfort when he says a man, later identified as Timothy Grims, came up and attacked him.
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"He just grabbed me around the neck and, um, choked me, tried put a cigarette out on me," Forney said, showing ABC13 the cuts and scrapes on his arms when we met up with him.
Flustered and scared, Forney says he immediately went to defense mode, grabbing the knife being used to attack him.
"I was trying to get the knife out of his hand, and I got the knife, and I just lost it after I got the knife out of his hand," he said. "I stabbed him."
In the cell phone video captured by a driver passing by in a car, you can see Forney holding what looked like a curved knife moments after he said he grabbed it from Grims. Grims is seen on video wearing a ball cap and holding Forney from behind in a bear hug. The video shows Forney taking the curved knife and striking back at Grims.
Both men suffered stab wounds, but Grims, the suspect, would be more seriously injured.
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"I was in fear for my life," Forney said. "Because he tried to stab me, I just took the knife away from him and cut him. I was just defending myself."
Forney said when police arrived on the scene, they initially detained both men. But eyewitness accounts placed the blame on Grims, and he was charged.
On Tuesday, Grims made his initial appearance in court. ABC13 spoke to his newly court-appointed attorney. He told us that Grims says he is the victim and will plead not guilty. Grims is currently being held on a $25,000 bond.
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