PHOENIX — An early morning jog turned into the run for her life for one Valley woman after she was chased by a man wielding an ax.
Gina Hopkins Calligan said she usually changes her running routes and times. Last Thursday she was out jogging south on Seventh Avenue shortly before 7 a.m.
When she was between Bethany Home Road and Glendale Avenue, she encountered a man with a large ax, who began to scream and chase her.
“I was just telling myself this has to be the fastest run of [my] life," Calligan says as she turned around and began heading north.
“He got so close to me. He was approaching so fast and the look in his eyes was just deep, [he had a] look of determination to kill me."
Police say the man, later identified as 25-year-old Joshua Eicher, raised the ax over his head in a menacing manner and began yelling at Calligan.
Calligan says she remembers running as fast as she could. At one point she turned back and saw the suspect less than 10 feet away.
“He was still chasing me, so I told myself no more looking back," Calligan added.
She said she began to scream for help and wave down passing cars.
“I didn’t want to do anything that was going to slow me down, but I think my screams and arms in the air slowed me down a bit."
Calligan says she ran about a block when a woman passing by stopped to help her and let her in her car.
That’s when she was able to call 911, but because she was in a state of panic, feels she didn’t thank her like she deserved.
Since the traumatic incident, Calligan says she hasn’t been able to go out on a run, the encounter still vividly present on her mind.
Even though she says she used to joke that she had no survival instincts, Calligan’s motivation to run and save her life was her daughter, a little fighter of her own, who was born with a heart defect and has undergone three open heart surgeries.
The suspect knocked on a nearby house after Calligan waved down the car.
The owner told 12 News Eicher was threatening and had the ax in hand. After the owner heard the screams, he also called police, who arrested Eicher.
Eicher is now in jail facing aggravated assault charges. His next date in court is Feb. 12.
“I definitely have peace of mind knowing that he’s not out on the street,” Calligan said.