A Cornelius, Ore., man was arrested Saturday after deputies said he threatened his wife with a nail-filled baseball bat that he claimed he created to protect his children from scary clowns.
Washington County deputies responded about 8 p.m. after Matija Belavic threatened his wife during an argument at their home on South Elder Court, said Sgt. Bob Ray, a sheriff’s office spokesman.
Belavic left the home by the time deputies arrived and was arrested about 15 minutes later when deputies found him walking down the street. Investigators suspect alcohol played a factor in the altercation.
The bat has 8-inch nails protruding from the end of it. Belavic, 31, told deputies he made the weapon in October during a nationwide phenomenon of people dressed as clowns or wearing scary clown masks to show his children that he’d protect them from any clowns trying to attack them, Ray said. Belavic called it “the clown tickler,” he said.
Belavic was booked into the Washington County Jail on suspicion of menacing.
