Good Samaritan in Denver describes stopping a man who was violently attacking a jogger

Police are searching for a suspect in an attack on a jogger that happened in Denver on Wednesday. While the attack was going on, a good Samaritan says he stepped in and stopped it from being a worse attack.

"I just remember her screaming 'help' and that's scary to think about," said Jaxon, who asked for his last name not to be used.

Denver police say the attack happened after 5 p.m. on Lincoln Street near Louisiana Avenue.

Jaxon said the terrifying moment has played in his head over and over. He was finishing his nightly exercise in the Platt Park neighborhood when up ahead he saw a female runner who had passed by him earlier. She was on the ground and she was screaming.

"I start jogging, as I'm getting closer I see there's another person," he said. "I then realize there was a man attacking this one lady, on top of her, strangling her. She was pretty helpless when I saw her."

Jaxon said he took action right away.

"At that point, I scream, 'Hey,' really loud to scare the guy," he said. "He then sees me, instantly sees me, gets off her, darts at me."

At that point Jaxon says he became the target of the attacker.

"She runs away and at that point he tries to attack me. I unfortunately had to strike at him, knock him down, throw him down to some neighbor's front yard, which at that point I was able to run up to the girl and make sure she was okay," he said.

The attacker then ran off while Jaxon told the woman to get help.

"I couldn't really get a good read on him, it all happened so quick. (He) definitely had bad intentions," Jaxon said.

After the incident, the victim ran to Adelitas Cocina Y Cantina on Broadway to get help. On the restaurant's back patio workers say they saw the woman come up covered with blood.

"I'm just very grateful I was there at that time to stop anything from progressing to much worse. I don't want to think about what could've happened," he said.

Denver police say they are working to contact nearby businesses or homes that might have video from the time of the incident. They also say they are planning to increase patrols in the area.

"It's scary for everyday people in Denver that there's someone out there committing these acts of crime," Jaxon said.

For now, Jaxon says he's putting his nightly running routine on hold.

"I've kind of always checked my surroundings every now and then because stuff like this is possible, it's rare, but it does happen. But it's hard not to be careful after witnessing something like that," he said.

And it's a reminder for others to be more alert when people are in need.

"Because I know that it's pretty easy to walk away from something like that if it's not your business, but you never know when you might've saved someone's life," he said.