Michigan Man Uses Battle Ax To Fight Off Intruder

OSHTEMO TWP. (WWJ/AP) - A Michigan man whose hobbies include ritualized combat with replica weapons from the Middle Ages says he wielded a battle ax he calls "my baby" to fend off an intruder.

Ben Ball, 36, told WOOD-TV he was playing video games at his apartment in Oshtemo Township, about 130 miles west of Detroit, late Wednesday, when someone who once dated his ex-roommate kicked in his door. He believed the attacker might be armed.

Ball told the TV station he grabbed the ax, took two steps forward and struck the intruder in the torso. After the two grappled, destroying the apartment, the attacker fled.

“There was a bloody mess everywhere,” Ball said. 

A neighbor called 911 and police deployed a K-9 unit to track a trail of blood leading to the suspect, 33-year-old Alex Lavell Rawls.

Kalamazoo County officials said Rawls spent the night at hospital before going to jail. 

Michigan Department of Corrections records show Rawls has a crminial history, with convictions for assaulting police officer and fleeing police dating back to 2004. 

He faces a charge of home invasion.