COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Scioto Trail is a path hundreds in Columbus take every day but one runner says her peaceful run ended with a traumatic fight for her life when she was attacked this weekend.
“It's not like the movies where they show everything flash before your eyes. It's not like that. It's survival mode,” Rosalyn Ballato said.
Ballato, a former Columbus resident who was visiting friends last weekend, went running on the popular trail she knows and loves until she came across someone suspicious.
Ballato says a disheveled shirtless man with gloves and a headpiece appeared on the trail, ran in front of her and then stopped to tie his shoes.
She says he appeared to be a homeless man and as soon as she walked passed him he attacked her and grabbed her by the throat.
"The main way he was choking me was more like a chokehold. It was like he's trying to put his whole body weight of his arm on my throat,” Ballato said.
Ballato said any emergency training went out the window.
“He slammed my head hit in the back and I'm seeing stars. I end up muttering out 'I have kids.' It's all I could think of that I have kids and he just grabbed tighter,” Ballato said.
She said he wasn’t trying to take her things. She believes he was trying to kill her.
“110% his main focus was on my throat. Based off of what I experienced with him, he was going to kill me and he definitely was going to rape me too. He wanted all of it,” Ballato said.
Ballato said she’s thankful she was in shape and able to fight him off to escape but warns all other runners to be careful, not to run alone and to be equipped with protective gear.
“This guy needs to be caught,” Ballato said.
Columbus police confirmed this incident happened and say they are investigating this case. Ballato says police did not gather evidence at the scene.