Famous Chef Replaces Pot Lost During Assault

Bam! With more moxie than most people half her age, Ellen Basinski, 70, slammed one of four teenage male intruders with an Emeril Lagasse trademark five-quart sauce pan, losing the pan in the process.

When Lagasse heard that a piece of his cookware was lost after it was used as a defensive weapon, he said he felt so bad, he is not only replacing the pot, but sending her a full set of his cookware. The Elyria (just outside Cleveland), Ohio, resident heard the intruders while talking on the phone with her husband, Lorain County Judge David Basinski, who in turn heard the commotion and called police before racing home. Not taking kindly to one of the young thugs rummaging through her purse, she wham-bammed him with her favorite cooking pot, sending him and his scurrilous pals scurrying. The four teens were later arrested and the pan is in protective custody in a police evidence locker.