A man has been sentenced to four years in the state penitentiary for pulling a knife on deputies as they were trying to arrest him for beating his wife.The man, Gregory Lynn Sowell, 36, entered guilty pleas before Circuit Court Judge Bart Stanley and was sentenced to serve four years on charges of aggravated assault and evading arrest.He was arrested after deputies arrived to find he had allegedly beat his wife and threatened to slit her throat.Deputies tried to arrest Sowell for the assault at his home on Viola Road but he tried to evade them by driving away as they were knocking on his door. Sowell was stopped and immediately bolted from his vehicle, trying to outrun lawmen on foot.“He got on the ground,” recalled sheriff’s deputy Joseph VanBommel. “Then he started complaining of his appendix hurting.”The pain didn’t last long because as soon as Sgt. Billy Joe Crouch bent down to handcuff him, the suspect got up and ran back toward his house, eventually taking refuge inside.“Mr. Sowell was holding the door shut,” said VanBommel, noting he was able to pry the door open a small amount.