A man who was released from prison just over a month ago was arrested again Thursday in connection with a home invasion, stabbing and burglary involving a husband and wife in Brookhaven, authorities said.
Just after 4 p.m., Kristin Ottofy was in the shower when she looked up and saw a man standing in the bathroom of her home in the 1600 block of North Druid Hills Road, she told Channel 2 Action News. She said the man, identified by police as Jimmy David Mills, 56, of Atlanta, asked her if she was alone.
That’s when she screamed for her husband.
“It’s really scary,” Ottofy told Channel 2. “(It) feels like a movie, not like real life.”
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
Paul Prae rushed downstairs and began to fight with Mills, who was taller and 100 pounds heavier than him, the husband told the news station. His wife was able to grab their 4-month-old and make her way upstairs.
As Mills reached for his pocket knife, Prae said he grabbed a bat and swung it, hitting Mills. That’s when Mills used the knife to stab at Prae’s eye, he told Channel 2.
“After I hit him with the bat, that’s when he came in straight for my eye,” Prae said. “It was obvious he was trying to attack my eye and missed by this much.”
Prae was stabbed in the eye and the stomach before Mills ran away, according to Brookhaven police. The husband was later taken to a hospital and released.
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
Officers later found Mills shirtless on Village Point behind another home after receiving an alert from a passerby who saw him jump a wall in the area. Police said they believe he had forcibly entered another home in the 2100 block of Village Point before they found him.
Mills was arrested there and taken to the DeKalb County Jail, where he is charged with aggravated assault, home invasion, criminal attempt to commit burglary and possession of a knife during the commission of a crime.
In April 2015, Mills committed another home invasion less than a mile from Thursday’s incident, a news release from the police department stated. He pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated assault and possession of a knife during the commission of a crime and was sentenced to 15 years in prison. He was released Aug. 3 and was still on parole at the time of his latest arrest.
Ottofy said she’s so thankful her husband was at home to help thwart the attack.
“Life can change in dramatic ways in 2 or 3 minutes," Prae told Channel 2, “so appreciate and love everyone you have around you.”
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