He ended up the hero in a drama that began about an hour earlier with the murder of a Department of Corrections officer and a high-speed police pursuit through the city.

Police later praised the 59-year-old for taking on the desperate suspect 32 years his junior, who also was 8 inches taller and many pounds heavier.

"He's the hero in this thing," said Salt Lake City police Lt. Mike Ross. "He wrestled the gun away."

At about 8:25 a.m., 27-year-old Curtis Michael Allgier pulled into the Arby's at 1685 S. Redwood Road in the blue Ford SUV he had hijacked at University Hospital after allegedly killing 22-year Corrections Department veteran Stephen Anderson, 60, of Bluffdale.

Customer Jeff Mousley said that as he was running out of the building, he saw Fullerton tackle Allgier to the ground.

As the men wrestled, Allgier allegedly stabbed Fullerton with what he remembers to be a "sharp object" that left a deep, vertical wound on the right side of his neck that required several stitches.

Fullerton, who said he had experience in the military, staggered outside of the restaurant and was taken to the hospital, said Salt Lake City police Sgt. Rich Brede.

Hours later, the Salt Lake City resident came back to the scene, still in the brown scrubs he had changed into at the hospital, and retraced his steps for police investigators throughout the Arby's.

Although still in shock, Fullerton said he didn't feel like he had done anything extraordinary.

"I don't feel like I'm a hero," he said. "I don't know why I did it, I just did what I had to do."

Fullerton drove off, saying he was going back to work.

abreton@sltrib.com