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Report: Man used "Clown Tickler," a "homemade medieval weapon" to threaten wife

CORNELIUS, Ore. -- Deputies say an Oregon man was arrested after threatening his wife with a nail-filled baseball bat he claimed he built to protect his children from clowns, reports OregonLive.com.

Washington County deputies responded to a domestic argument at a Cornelius home around 8 p.m. Saturday, reports the website. Officials say 31-year-old Matija Belavic had left the home by the time deputies arrived and was arrested about 15 minutes later when he was found walking down the street.

Deputies believe alcohol played a factor in the altercation, the website reports.

The sheriff’s office tweeted a picture of the “homemade medieval weapon,” a bat with 8-inch nails protruding from the end of it. Belavic reportedly told authorities he made the weapon in October amid a rash of clown sightings across the country in order to show his children he’d protect them from any clowns trying to attack them.

Belavic called the weapon the “clown tickler,” the website reports.

He was booked into the Washington County jail on suspicion of menacing.

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