Karen Dolley, a 43-year-old Indianapolis woman who skates as “Foul Morguean” with the Naptown Roller Girls, cornered a man who’d broken into her home on Thursday night, using only her wits, bravery, and a Japanese-styled sword she owns, called a “ninjato.”



The Indianapolis Star reports that Dolley punched the intruder, Jacob Wessel, 10 times, cornering him in her bedroom:

She reached for her gun in a nearby drawer, but she accidentally opened the wrong drawer during the chaos of the moment, so her gun wasn’t there.

She reached for her backup weapon, a Japanese-styled sword called ninjato, which she keeps near her bed. Her intruder crouched in the bedroom as she held him at sword-point until police arrived, she said. She called 911 and police arrived within two minutes, she said.

Wessel, who was taken to a hospital because he was high on an unknown substance, was arrested and charged with residential entry. Dolley said Wessel apologized to her as he was being removed from her home.

“I didn’t think I was getting good blows in but my knuckles are bruised today,” Dolley told the Star. “Hitting someone like that, it isn’t like the movies. You’re expecting it to be louder and see people jerk around, but that’s not how it happens in real life.”

At one point Wessel reached for something in his pocket, Dolley said. She applied more pressure with her sword and told him to stop. “I’m really, really glad I didn’t have to do anything more,” she said. “I know I could do it, but I don’t want to do that.”

“At the end of the day, I’m glad to know that even if I wake up in the middle of the night, I’m not going down without a fight,” Dolley said.

Wait, why does this lady have a sword, though? From the Star:

Dolley actually has some experience in medieval combat fighting from her days as an 18-year-old fighter in the Society for Creative Anachronism, a nonprofit for members who re-create arts and skills from Europe prior to the 17th Century, according to the organization’s website . Dolley would don armor and engage in unchoreographed fights using rattan swords, which are safer than steel. She fought against men who stood taller than 6 feet and had 20 years experience. In the beginning, her opponents could guess her moves because she was afraid she was going to hurt someone, she said, so an early lesson was to move confidently and aggressively after someone.

“It is 440C stainless steel, it has an edge and it will cut,” Dolley told CBS 4 Indy. “If he would have behaved in a slightly different manner he would not have gotten out of here alive.” Damn.