SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA — Reports of domestic violence resulted in a web of confusion earlier this week when Australian police arrived to find a man attacking not a woman as initially reported, but a spider.

Neighbors reported hearing a woman screaming “hysterically” and a man making threats through the walls of a housing unit. Police arrived at the man’s home to find him out of breath and “rather flushed.”

The following account was posted by Harbourside Local Police Force on its Facebook page on Nov. 21.

“Police received numerous calls in relation to a violent domestic, with reports of a woman screaming hysterically, a man yelling, “I’m going to kill you, you’re dead! Die! Die!” Numerous police cars responded to the address and began banging on the door.

Police: “Where’s your wife”
Male: “Um I don’t have one”
Police: “Where is your girlfriend”
Male: “Um I don’t have one”
Police: “We had a report of a domestic and a women screaming, where is she?”
Male: “I don’t know what you’re talking about I live alone”
Police: “Come on mate people clearly heard you yelling you were going to kill her and furniture getting thrown around the unit.”

At this point the male became very sheepish.

Police: “Come on mate, what have you done to her.”
Male: “It was a spider”
Police “Sorry?”
Male: “It was a spider, a really big one!”
Police : “What about the women screaming?”
Male: “Yeah sorry that was me, I really really hate spiders”

As it turns out the male was chasing a rather large spider around the unit with a can or mortein. After a very long pause some laughter and a quick look in the unit to make sure there was no injured party (apart from the spider) we left.”

Source: USA Today