Emeril to replace scrappy woman's saucepan

ELYRIA, Ohio, Feb. 27 (UPI) -- TV chef Emeril Lagasse said he is sending a free cookware set to a 70-year-old Ohio woman whose pan was taken by police after she used it to fight burglars.

Ellen Basinski, 70, said she was taking to her husband, Lorain County Family Court Judge David Basinski, on the phone Tuesday when the four young men -- identified by police as Patrick Kostal, 18, and three juveniles ages 15, 16 and 17 -- entered her Elyria home and began rifling through her purse, liquor cabinet and drawers, the (Elyria) Chronicle-Telegram reported Friday.

Basinski said she used her 5-quart Emeril Lagasse saucepan to hit one of the burglars before they fled with her wallet, which contained only $10.

The suspects were arrested and charged with aggravated burglary, assault and theft.

Lagasse told the Cleveland Plain Dealer that he decided to send Basinski a new 10-piece set of nonstick cookware, which retails for about $199, after he heard that the woman's saucepan had been admitted into evidence after she used it to fight the intruders.

"I mean, it just blew my mind," the famed chef said. "I mean, I feel terrible for her -- not only about the situation she faced, but because she probably may not get that pan back. That's not good, not good."