The old ball and chain

If you mess with the miscreants in my county, you run the risk of one of them getting all medieval on your ass:

Metal ball and chain injures Lacey man - Victim sets fire to suspect's vehicle to distract him

Sheriff's detectives Tuesday were investigating an early morning fight in which one man struck another man with a metal ball and chain.

Despite having his arm broken, the victim set fire to the suspect's car... The victim, a 37-year-old Lacey man, used the car fire as a distraction to drive to a pay phone and called 9-1-1 about 1:15 a.m., the Thurston County sheriff's office reported.

No one had been arrested, Chief Criminal Deputy Dan Kimball said. Investigators had not recovered the medieval-like weapon, described as a metal ball attached to a chain...

"I can't remember the last case I saw where someone was alleged to have been assaulted by a ball and chain," Kimball said. "On the other hand, nothing surprises me."