MILFORD, Ct. – A courageous man used a leaf blower as a defensive weapon to intercede on behalf of a woman who was being pursued by her knife-wielding husband during an attack that could have been fatal, according to law enforcement authorities in Connecticut.
Officers with the Milford Police Department responded to 911 calls last Friday regarding a stabbing on Greer Circle. Upon arrival, police contacted all parties involved, Fox News Digital reported.
Their investigation revealed that suspect Kevin Conway, 66, stabbed his wife of 25 years at one location on Greer Circle, forcing the woman to flee to a neighbor’s home seeking help.
“Kevin’s trying to kill me, and he stabbed me,” the victim told the neighbor, according to a police affidavit.
The woman, who had already been stabbed twice, hid behind the male neighbor, who shielded her from her knife-wielding husband.
Meanwhile, Conway ran toward them while armed with three knives, one in each hand and a third tucked into his armpit.
The courageous neighbor — armed with nothing but a leaf blower — instructed Conway several times to put the knives down. However, he refused, while uttering, “She was going to die, and he was going to die.”
The confrontation was also witnessed by a second neighbor who heard Conway say, “You don’t understand. This woman has screwed up my life three ways to Sunday.”
As Conway approached the neighbors who were shielding the woman, the first neighbor “struck Kevin Conway in the head with a leaf blower” that he was using for yard work at the time, Milford police wrote in the affidavit.
As a result of the blow to the head with the leaf blower, Conway was knocked to the ground with a substantial injury.
The neighbor told police he believed he had no other option than to strike Conway with the piece of gardening equipment.
Officers noted the victim had bleeding stab wounds in the “upper torso by the right shoulder and upper chest area.”
Conway was bleeding due to a head injury sustained when he was struck by the leaf blower.
The injuries to both the victim and her suspect husband were “grave in nature,” according to police, and they were transported to the hospital for treatment.
During a more extensive interview, the victim told police that Conway entered the home that afternoon and became “verbally combative.” She added that her husband said “the last time he didn’t kill [her], but this time he was going to.” He initially walked away but returned later, carrying three “large” knives, the affidavit states.
The woman believed her husband was likely under the influence of alcohol and prescription medication during the attack, Fox News Digital reported.
Conway was subsequently arrested and charged with attempted murder, first-degree assault, violation of a protective order and second-degree threatening in connection with the attack.
The criminal defendant was previously arrested in March “for assaulting and biting the victim in the leg,” police noted. Following that encounter, the victim obtained a protective order against the suspect that same month.
Conway was booked at the New Haven Correctional Center. His bond was set at $75,000.