Two heroes stopped a man from attacking a woman at a Memphis laundromat.
We go to the laundromat thinking it will be just another normal day. We never expect danger to show up while we’re doing everyday things like washing clothes.
But we know one thing for sure – God is our protector. He goes before us and places people around us who will step up when trouble comes.
That’s exactly what happened to Jacalyn Hendricks.
It all started on Wednesday evening, August 6, at Ellie’s Laundromat on South Pauline Street. Jacalyn Hendricks was just doing her laundry when she met Joseph Leake earlier that day. He was washing his clothes too, but something felt off about him.
“He was drying and washing his clothes, and he told me, ‘You don’t need to be on your phone,'” Hendricks said. “I didn’t understand what he meant at first. I asked him why, and he just said something about washing his clothes. I didn’t think much of it, and then he left.”
Hendricks thought the weird conversation was over. She was wrong. Minutes later, Leake came back angry and dangerous.
This time he brought an orange baseball bat and started yelling at everyone. He swung that bat around, and Hendricks was in real danger.
That’s when Donald Young and Regenald Harris jumped in. These two men didn’t know each other well, but they both saw trouble and acted fast.
They grabbed Leake and wrestled him to the ground. They held him there for almost ten minutes until the police showed up.
“They was basically like my superheroes, because if they wasn’t here, they could have possibly hurt me more than what it was,” Hendricks said. You can hear the relief in her voice.
Harris could have hurt Leake badly, but he chose a different way. “I was glad I was able to hold him down instead of shoot him, because we have enough of that going on in the city, and I think it portrays the city in a negative light,” Harris said.
While they held Leake down, they learned a sad truth. Harris said Leake told him he wasn’t taking his medication.
This wasn’t just about a bad person doing bad things. This was about someone who needed help but wasn’t getting it.
Harris was humble about the whole thing. “I didn’t come in here to be a hero, I came in here to wash clothes,” Harris said. “But I think you need to interact where you see a need. And it’s everybody’s job to do that in the community.”
What touched people’s hearts was how Harris felt about Leake afterward. He didn’t hate him or want revenge. “A lot of people say, you know, ‘he’s this’ and ‘he’s that’ — but you know what, my heart goes out to him too,” Harris said. “I don’t want to read about him dead, and I don’t want to read about her dead either. I’m tired of seeing that go on in our city.”
Harris believes people used to look out for each other more than they do now. “Back in the day, if they saw you, people intervened — and they even told your parents,” Harris said. “There was a thing called pride. It was a thing called morality, and I think that needs to return back to this city.”
The police arrested Leake and charged him with aggravated assault, criminal trespass and burglary. Court records show something troubling. He had signed papers just hours earlier saying he was banned from that laundromat. But he came back anyway.
Harris and Young could have just minded their own business. They could have looked the other way or figured someone else would handle it. But they didn’t. They saw someone in trouble and stepped up. That’s the kind of neighbor God wants us to be.
WATCH: Men Leap Into Action to Save Woman From Baseball Bat Attack
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