A man who was stabbed in the back by his wife ended up arrested and charged with battery, after witnesses said the woman was just trying to defend herself against him.

According to reports from the Covington Police Department, officers were called to Newton Medical Center early Monday morning and when they arrived spoke with 38-year-old Chadwick Lamont Barksdale who had been stabbed in the back. He told officers that he and his wife were going through a divorce and that after getting mad at him she threatened to kill him. Barksdale said that he grabbed his car keys and tried to run out the front door which is when she stabbed him. When asked what had made her so angry he allegedly told officers it was because he told her he wanted a divorce after their three years of marriage.

He admitted that everyone had been drinking and told officers where they could find his wife, along with her brother and his girlfriend, who were present at the time of the stabbing.

When officers arrived to speak to the wife and witnesses they heard a slightly different story. According to the wife and the witnesses, Barksdale had thrown his wife against a wall and her brother stepped in to defend her. The wife told officers that she grabbed the knife and stabbed Barksdale in an attempt to get him off her brother.

Barksdale required four stitches and was released from the hospital. He was promptly arrested and transported to the Newton County Detention Center where he was charged with Family Violence Act simple battery, cruelty to children and public drunk.