WTVG- TV

Toledo Ohio

LINK TO VIDEO:

http://abclocal.go.com/wtvg/story?section=news/local&id=6948142

She socked an attacker with a sock loaded with a can of peas. That action was enough to fend off a man who was pistol-whipping her. It all happened inside the Vistula Two Heritage Village at the corner of Erie and Locust.

On the fourth floor of the apartment building a loud knocking brought Latoyia Taylor into the hallway around 6:00 Tuesday morning.

"I looked to my right first. I didn't see anybody. So then I looked to my left and seen a guy standing there with a gun and a ski mask over his face."

Wounds on her face and arm show what happened next. The man in the mask started pistol-whipping Taylor.

"He grabbed me by my hair and just started hitting me, hitting me all in the back of the head and on the side."

So, the 26-year-old brought out her secret weapon a sock with a can of peas inside. Taylor says she used it to fight back until it ripped.

"I heard something drop. I'm thinking it's his gun that dropped. When I looked down, it was the can of peas that I had in the sock."

The scuffle quickly brought out neighbors who called police.

Sharon Preston witnessed the attack. "They attacked her for no apparent reason. I don't know how they got in the building because these doors are locked.

The first attacker ran off but Taylor says her boyfriend caught an apparent accomplice, Gregory Banks.

"Tyrone, my boyfriend, grabbed him by his neck and I just kicked him in his face and I just kept hitting him."

The two hit him so much, Banks ended up at St. Vincent Mercy medical center. Taylor, who also needed medical attention, says she's doing better tonight; in no small part, thanks to her own method of self-defense. Banks is in critical condition. He faces a charge of aggravated robbery. Meantime, Toledo police say they're looking for the main suspect who may go by the nickname "T".