A good Samaritan foiled an assault on a Clemson University  student last week before the attacker, a convicted sex offender, drove off in her stolen car.

The Anderson County Sheriff’s Office said Darrell Scott Brooks drove into Seneca, South Carolina, where Oconee County deputies saw him crash the car and took him into custody.

Brooks, 57, has been charged with kidnapping, grand larceny, and assault with intent to rape.

Anderson County authorities said Brooks spoke with the the student at her off-campus apartment complex in Clemson and told her his car had “broken down,,” and he needed a ride to his job at the university. After the young woman agreed, he forced her to pull into a church parking lot and attacked her with “a folding razor blade knife.”

A passerby heard the woman’s shouts for help and stopped, giving the woman the opportunity to escape her attacker. Brooks then jumped behind the wheel of the car and drove away.

Deputies in Oconee County spotted the car and attempted a traffic stop before Brooks crashed.

The Anderson County Sheriff’s Office said Brooks had been released from prison in the spring. According to the South Carolina Sex Offender Registry, he was convicted in 2003 of criminal sexual conduct in the first degree. The Post & Courier reported that he held a woman captive for 15 hours while raping her and threatening to kill her with a knife.

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[Featured image: Darrell Scott Brooks/Anderson County Sheriff’s Office]