JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A man rushed to help his mother after she unexpectedly found a 28-year-old man in her bedroom, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office.
James Axton, 65, told investigators he heard his mother, Elenaor Tillman, 85, yell for help. Axton said he ran into the room and confronted Donaven Brown, 28.
"My dog was barking really loud for a while and my mom’s door was halfway closed," Axton said. "When I started pushing the door opened, I saw him standing behind it and he was in his underwear halfway down to his knees."
Axton said he and Brown got into a fight. Axton grabbed a can of Raid insecticide, which he said he used to repeatedly to hit Brown on the head.
During the struggle, Brown grabbed Axton's wallet and ran out the front door, the Sheriff's Office said.
When asked by News4Jax whether he believed the man was trying to sexually assault his mother, Axton responded, "I don't think he was trying to write poetry with his pants down."
Neither Axton nor Tillman knew how the man got into the home, but told police the back door of the home is always left open for their dog. Axton said Brown showed up at the home a week prior and offered to mow the lawn.
Axton had a picture of the man he showed police. After two hours, an officer found the suspect standing outside the Plantation Apartments on Old Kings Road South.
After attempting to run from the officer, Brown was arrested, police said. He was charged with burglary, robbery and resisting an officer.