A teenage boy in Kentucky is being praised as a hero after he was stabbed while stepping in to defend a woman and her daughter from a man who was allegedly harassing them.
Authorities have charged Vasilis Sakellaridis, 45, with first-degree assault, first-degree fleeing or evading police, second-degree disorderly conduct, and alcohol intoxication in a public place, according to Louisville Metro Department of Corrections records. He is accused of stabbing 15-year-old Da’Jon Hayes-Burr.
On Saturday, Kristyn Stasel told local CBS affiliate WLKY that she was leaving the annual Thunder Over Louisville fireworks show in Louisville, Kentucky, with her 12-year-old daughter when a man approached them as they walked to their car.
The mother said that the man — alleged to have been Sakellaridis — made a sexual comment and she, in turn, told him that her daughter was 12, to which he allegedly replied, “Never too young to have some fun.”
“I flipped, and I just started screaming as loud as I could,” Stasel continued. “I just started screaming as loud as I could, like ‘pedophile, pedophile,’ like, to get anyone’s attention. And when I did, normally, someone would want to run away from being called that. Instead, he charged at me.”
Da’Jon was apparently nearby with a group of other teens. He heard Stasel’s cries for help and, according to a GoFundMe set up for him, “stepped in to protect a 12-year-old girl and her mother from a dangerous situation involving a pedophile.”
Sakellaridis reportedly “tried to swing” at the teens, and they knocked him to the ground. Stasel said she continued walking with her daughter, but “the next thing we know, as we’re walking up, we see the man come again around.”
He had reportedly stabbed Da’Jon in the stomach and continued moving toward the mother and daughter. The woman said around 12 military personnel and police officers tackled the suspect, “and it took them a while to keep him down.”
“That group of kids saved us, and I’m so glad that he’s just minorly hurt,” Stasel added about Da’Jon. “And I know he said he didn’t feel like a hero, but he will always be a hero in my book because, again, I don’t know what would have happened.”
Da’Jon is expected to recover, “but his road to recovery will be long and challenging,” the GoFundMe says. “The emotional and physical toll of what happened is immense, and we want to do everything we can to support him as he heals.”
Sakellaridis pleaded not guilty during his arraignment on Monday, according to Louisville Fox affiliate WDRB. Authorities are holding him on a $25,000 cash bond.
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