Karen Dolley: Indianapolis Woman Stops Intruder Using Medieval Combat Training And A Sword!

An Indianapolis woman is being hailed for her quick presence of mind and bravery after she single-handedly managed to fight an intruder and kept him subdued until help arrived. The woman, later identified as 43-year-old Karen Dolley, was all alone at her home on last Thursday night when an intruder snuck into her home. According to ABC News, Karen Dolley was fast asleep at midnight, Thursday, when she woke to the voice of a man inside her home. The voice came from her living room and upon investigating, she saw a man standing there.

Instead of cowering down with fear, Karen’s instincts kicked in. Dolley, who happens to be well trained in medieval combat, used all her skills — and a sword to overpower the man and subdue him until help arrived. Dolley, who is all of five-foot-six attacked the man and punched him over 10 times to his utter shock. The intruder, later identified as Jacob Wessel, 30, was cornered into submission in her bedroom. According to the Indianapolis Star, Dolley even tried to look for her gun — however, in the heat of the moment, she ended up opening the wrong drawer and got hold of her backup weapon — a sword. The sword, which happens to be a Japanese-style weapon called the Ninjato, was capable enough to deter the intruder from fighting back. In fact, Dolley managed to hold the man at sword point as she called 911. Within minutes, police officers reached Karen Dolley’s home — much to her (and perhaps the intruder’s) relief.

According to police officials. Jacob Wessel was identified to be a resident of Greenwood. He confessed to having entered Karen’s home from her backdoor and was arrested and subsequently charged with residential entry, a felony. Jacob was a well-built man standing five-feet, ten-inches tall. Dolley did not suffer any major injuries in the midst of the scuffle that happened between her and the intruder. She was only left with a few bruised knuckles. She even joked about the entire incident.

“I didn’t think I was getting good blows in but my knuckles are bruised today. 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.”

Meanwhile, Dolley hands all the credit of her bravery to the fact that she was trained in medieval combat fighting. She had learned the skill as an 18-year-old when she was a fighter in the Society for Creative Anachronism. This is a nonprofit organization that specializes in re-creating arts and skills from Europe prior to the 17th Century. As a youngster, Dolley also was used to wearing armor and also claims to have taken on men well over six-feet-tall. She was also an expert with the Japanese Rattan swords — which also aided her and kept the intruder at bay. Dolley added that she was not this ferocious a fighter right from the start. In fact, she was not as confident as she is today and thanks to her lack of confidence, it became easy for her opponents to test her skills.

Meanwhile, people from the neighborhood have commended Dolley for her actions. Dolley herself is thankful that the intruder wasn’t armed himself. In fact, she says the man even apologized to her as he was taken away by police officers.

“I’m really, really glad I didn’t have to do anything more. I know I could do it, but I don’t want to do that.”, Dolley told the Indianapolis Star.

What would have you done if you were in a similar situation as that of Karen Dolley?

[Images Via Facebook| Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department]