Attempted murder defendant Mark Char told a state jury Wednesday that when he pulled up in front of a car that had brake-checked him on the H-1, he just wanted to talk to the occupants.

“I just wanted to see why they was doing that,” he said, “I was thinking maybe the guys go drinking after work, or something, if they was doing that then I can call the cops.”

Char, 60, is on trial for attempted murder for stabbing the driver of the other car, Jesther Marlang, on Aug. 1, 2016. Char is also on trial for assaulting Marlang’s passenger, Deion Anunciacion, and for assaulting motorist Jene Winn, who tried to break up what was happening on the freeway’s center median in Waipahu.

After he pulled over and got out, Char said his car rolled backward and crashed into the front of Marlang’s car. He said he didn’t activate his parking brake and the automatic transmission must have jumped out of gear. He said Marlang was outside his car and tried to stop the impact.

Char said Marlang yelled and swore at him. When it appeared that Marlang was about to attack, Char said he tried to stop him with pepper spray. He told the jury he carries two cans of pepper spray in his pockets for protection, one larger can, “the one Dog the Bounty Hunter uses,” and a smaller can for backup.

He said the first can of pepper spray didn’t have enough propellant and Marlang was able to block the spray from the second can with his arms. He said Marlang dazed him with a punch to the side of his head, spun him around by the back of his shirt, punched him some more, threw him to the ground and continued punching him.

Char said he was on top of Marlang when he heard Marlang tell Anunciacion to “stick ’em.” That’s when he took a push knife out of its sheath. Char said he earlier had heard Marlang tell Anunciacion to “get the knife” and saw Anunciacion rummaging in their car. Char said he wears the push knife, which has a double- edge blade that sticks out from between the user’s fingers, for protection and for use on the job.

He told the jury he started swinging the knife wildly to protect himself. At one point he said he believed he was being attacked by three people. He said doesn’t deny causing the injuries suffered by Marlang, Anunciacion and Winn but said he didn’t swing or point the knife at anyone in particular and had no intention to kill or hurt anyone.

Char said he stopped swinging when the attack stopped and he realized that Anunciacion did not have a knife. He told the jury he then picked up his glasses and one of the cans of pepper spray, put them on the floor behind his driver seat and drove home. He said he washed up and told his wife to call 911 to report that he had been attacked.

Police tracked Char down through his veterans license plate. He said he served one month in the Army in 1976 before he was medically discharged. They searched Char’s Ewa Beach home and car but did not recover the push knife or pepper spray cans used in the freeway confrontation.

Char was the the defense’s only witness. His account differed from those provided by Marlang, Anunciacion, Winn, an off-duty police officer who showed up in the middle of the confrontation and passing motorists, including one who took cellphone photos of Char wearing camouflage fatigue pants tucked into combat-style boots. Char’s wife, who was in the car during the confrontation, did not testify.