Council Bluffs woman smacks intruder out of house with toy bat

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) - A woman surprised by a man in the front room of her home near Council Bluffs grabbed a plastic toy bat and hit him repeatedly until he ran out the front door.

The Pottawattamie County sheriff's office says the 26-year-old woman was taking a bath Wednesday night with her 3-year-old child when she noticed a cat who normally stays outside had entered the bathroom. Thinking this odd, she dressed and walked into the front room, where she saw a man standing over her 4-year-old son, who was sleeping in a recliner.

She yelled for him to leave and threatened to call 911, but he hit her in the head.

She then grabbed the bat and hit him multiple times until he ran away.

The sheriff's office says the woman didn't know the man.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.