Army Ranger Veteran attacked in home by special forces pilot - on Veteran's Day

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FORT WALTON BEACH, Fla. - Okaloosa deputies arrested an Air Force Special Operations pilot Wednesday. William Hall is accused of breaking into a home and attacking a veteran, sending the victim to the hospital. He's facing burglary, battery, and resisting arrest charges. It seems the suspect was roughed up during the incident as well. Hall's booking picture shows him with a bad eye injury. It happened at apartments on Blue Fish Road at 6 a.m. The victim, Bill Brown, and his daughter, Erica, say it seemed to be a random confrontation that turned violent.

It all started when Erica went outside to grab something out of her car. At that time, she said Hall approached her acting oddly. "He was acting in a very unusual, suspect manor," Brown said. "He appeared aggressive towards my daughter." Brown served in the U.S. Army for 32 years. He was an Army Ranger that served in Iraq in Afghanistan. He has a purple heart, leaving the service in 2009 after being injured in combat. He didn't think he would be fighting for his life on Veterans Day, but he was.

His daughter went back in the house, and he said Hall darted in. Brown took action, going for his gun. "He came around the corner and I said, 'freeze go back outside!'" Brown said. "He did, and he laid-down flat until the police arrived. But before the police arrived he bull-rushed in and pushed me back." For a few minutes, they wrestled on the ground. "He's bigger than me, definitely stronger. I'm disabled. He had me on the ground smashing my head into the tile," Brown explained. At that point, Brown's daughter picked up the gun and started hitting the suspect with it. The groundskeeper saw what was going on and came inside and tried kicking Brown's attacker. But it was Brown's training that saved his life. "I kind of rolled and stuck my finger into his eye," Brown said. "I went in and ripped into that eye. And he automatically started grabbing his face to protect it. And I said, 'you're not going do this to me, I'm going to live and I'm going to take your eyes!" Brown also said he jammed a phone charger end into the man's ear during the fight. When the police arrived they arrested the suspect. "They dragged him out, he was fighting the officers, he said, 'I'm special ops. I'm going to kill you!'" Brown said. "With my dad being 32 years in the service and to have someone do this on Veteran's Day, really broke my heart," his daughter said. "I understand people get drunk. I do dumb things too but I understand what's right from wrong… specially being a U.S (servicemen) you're representing the USA," he said. "You don't act like this. We're professionals," Brown added.

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