This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

A 31-year-old man who attacked a teenage girl and then stabbed a man who tried to help her was sentenced Monday to up to 15 years in the Utah State Prison.

Jeremy Alan Dillard pleaded guilty Monday to robbery and aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury, both second degree felonies, in connection with a June 2009 attack that left one man critically injured.

Third District Judge Randall Skanchy sentenced Dillard to one to 15 years in Utah State prison for each crime. Dillard will serve his sentences simultaneously.

Skanchy also ordered Dillard to pay more than $10,800 in restitution to the University of Utah Hospital.

According to court documents, on June 1, 2009, Dillard approached a teenage girl and her friends near 500 South and 200 East. Witnesses at the time said the group was playing instruments in Washington Square.

Dillard asked them for money, and when he was denied, he grabbed the 14-year-old girl in a choke hold, officials said.

When an older man told Dillard to leave the kids alone, the documents state, Dillard did not respond, so the man began to fight him. In the fracas, Dillard pulled out a knife and stabbed the man.

The victim was taken to the hospital with a puncture wound on his arm and a cut about 8 to 9 inches deep in his neck.

Dillard will begin serving his sentence immediately.

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