Three Arrested For Brutal Rape Robbery Home Invasion
Violent Crime Trend In Northern Indianapolis Continues Near 79th and North College
Re-printed from a story at Indianapolis on November 5th 2013
Alexander Dupree, 23, Trae Spells, 18, and Michael Pugh, 21, arraigned on dozens of counts of Rape and Robbery.
Michael Pugh shook his head several times as a Marion County judge read all of the charges against him — 35 total.
At one point during the court hearing Tuesday afternoon at Marion County Criminal Court, he mouthed the words “I didn’t do it,” to a woman sitting and crying in the back row.
Pugh, 21, and two others, Alexander Dupree, 23, and Trae Spells, 18, are now facing multiple counts of Rape, Criminal Deviate Conduct, Criminal Confinement, Carjacking, Battery, Intimidation, Robbery and Burglary in connection to a Home Invasion and Sexual Assault carried out by a group of men last week on Indianapolis’ Far Northside. Three men allegedly involved appeared in court at the same time.
A probable cause affidavit released Monday told in excruciating detail the events that happened in the 800 block of East 79th Street, where Dupree, Spells and Pugh allegedly shot a woman, assaulted her daughter, ransacked their house and stole their three vehicles.
The affidavit claims the men then began taking items from the house, including a television, but soon grew “disappointed” because there was no money in the house. At that point, the affidavit says, some of the men took the mother to an ATM to get money.
While in the car on the way back, the mother was sexually assaulted. She was shot twice, first in the leg and again in the foot after she tried to escape, documents said.
During the entire invasion and assault, the father was restrained in the bedroom. He told police he has a medical condition that requires him to wear braces on his legs and ankles and remained in bed during the incident while some of the men demanded money or car keys from him.
When the mother left the home, the remaining men became more violent. The affidavit alleges some of the men dragged the daughter around the house and repeatedly raped her.
Afterward, one of the men ordered the daughter to go with him to a bank to withdraw more money from an ATM, the affidavit says. She told police that man, about 25 years old, told her he attended North Central High School, the same school she had attended. But while “she did not believe she knew the male personally,” the affidavit says, “he just looked like a male she had previously known.”
The 800 block of 79th Street near North College in Indianapolis where the home invasion occurred.
The daughter later told police she could not describe many of the men involved in the crime because they “told her not to open her eyes or they would ‘shoot’ her,” the affidavit says.
Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officers arrived at the house about 7:30 a.m. Police said they were able to track down Dupree by using fingerprints found in the bathroom of the house.
The affidavit says both Dupree and Spells admitted being involved in the crime.
Police also arrested Demetre Brown, 21, who is suspected in another home invasion case in the 7000 block of Spring Mill Road just three miles away. Police think the two incidents are connected. Brown, who is being held on a $20,000 bond, will be back in court Friday.
Pugh, Dupree and Spells were arrested within two days after the incident. Marion County Deputy Prosecutor Eric Schmadeke said he is confident all 35 charges against each of the three men will stick.
“We don’t make charges that we don’t think we can prove,” Schmadeke said.
He also said investigators are still tracking down at least two other men who may have been involved.
“The investigation is ongoing as it relates to these individuals and the individuals who have not yet been named in the indictment,” Schmadeke said. “What happens in the future is anyone’s guess as the evidence is developing.”
Schmadeke said he couldn’t speculate as to why the victim’s home was targeted.
“We may never know,” he said.
During the court hearing today, where the three men appeared in handcuffs and orange jumpsuits, Pugh began sobbing after Marion County Superior Court Judge Lisa Borges ordered him and the other suspects to not contact some of their family and friends. His girlfriend, whom he is not allowed to contact, is pregnant.
All three are unemployed and said they could not afford to hire a lawyer. A public defender has been assigned to each of their cases.
A pretrial hearing is scheduled for Dec. 11. at Marion County Criminal Court. They are being held on a $200,000 bond at Marion County Jail.
A majority of the charges are Class A felony, each punishable by up to 50 years in prison each.
References:
Indianapolis Star, Three Suspects Arrested In 79th Street Rape Robbery
WRTV Channel 6, Three Formally Charged With 35 Counts In Rape Robbery
Re-printed from a story at Indianapolis on November 5th 2013
Alexander Dupree, 23, Trae Spells, 18, and Michael Pugh, 21, arraigned on dozens of counts of Rape and Robbery.
Michael Pugh shook his head several times as a Marion County judge read all of the charges against him — 35 total.
At one point during the court hearing Tuesday afternoon at Marion County Criminal Court, he mouthed the words “I didn’t do it,” to a woman sitting and crying in the back row.
Pugh, 21, and two others, Alexander Dupree, 23, and Trae Spells, 18, are now facing multiple counts of Rape, Criminal Deviate Conduct, Criminal Confinement, Carjacking, Battery, Intimidation, Robbery and Burglary in connection to a Home Invasion and Sexual Assault carried out by a group of men last week on Indianapolis’ Far Northside. Three men allegedly involved appeared in court at the same time.
A probable cause affidavit released Monday told in excruciating detail the events that happened in the 800 block of East 79th Street, where Dupree, Spells and Pugh allegedly shot a woman, assaulted her daughter, ransacked their house and stole their three vehicles.
The affidavit claims the men then began taking items from the house, including a television, but soon grew “disappointed” because there was no money in the house. At that point, the affidavit says, some of the men took the mother to an ATM to get money.
While in the car on the way back, the mother was sexually assaulted. She was shot twice, first in the leg and again in the foot after she tried to escape, documents said.
During the entire invasion and assault, the father was restrained in the bedroom. He told police he has a medical condition that requires him to wear braces on his legs and ankles and remained in bed during the incident while some of the men demanded money or car keys from him.
When the mother left the home, the remaining men became more violent. The affidavit alleges some of the men dragged the daughter around the house and repeatedly raped her.
Afterward, one of the men ordered the daughter to go with him to a bank to withdraw more money from an ATM, the affidavit says. She told police that man, about 25 years old, told her he attended North Central High School, the same school she had attended. But while “she did not believe she knew the male personally,” the affidavit says, “he just looked like a male she had previously known.”
The 800 block of 79th Street near North College in Indianapolis where the home invasion occurred.
The daughter later told police she could not describe many of the men involved in the crime because they “told her not to open her eyes or they would ‘shoot’ her,” the affidavit says.
Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officers arrived at the house about 7:30 a.m. Police said they were able to track down Dupree by using fingerprints found in the bathroom of the house.
The affidavit says both Dupree and Spells admitted being involved in the crime.
Police also arrested Demetre Brown, 21, who is suspected in another home invasion case in the 7000 block of Spring Mill Road just three miles away. Police think the two incidents are connected. Brown, who is being held on a $20,000 bond, will be back in court Friday.
Pugh, Dupree and Spells were arrested within two days after the incident. Marion County Deputy Prosecutor Eric Schmadeke said he is confident all 35 charges against each of the three men will stick.
“We don’t make charges that we don’t think we can prove,” Schmadeke said.
He also said investigators are still tracking down at least two other men who may have been involved.
“The investigation is ongoing as it relates to these individuals and the individuals who have not yet been named in the indictment,” Schmadeke said. “What happens in the future is anyone’s guess as the evidence is developing.”
Schmadeke said he couldn’t speculate as to why the victim’s home was targeted.
“We may never know,” he said.
During the court hearing today, where the three men appeared in handcuffs and orange jumpsuits, Pugh began sobbing after Marion County Superior Court Judge Lisa Borges ordered him and the other suspects to not contact some of their family and friends. His girlfriend, whom he is not allowed to contact, is pregnant.
All three are unemployed and said they could not afford to hire a lawyer. A public defender has been assigned to each of their cases.
A pretrial hearing is scheduled for Dec. 11. at Marion County Criminal Court. They are being held on a $200,000 bond at Marion County Jail.
A majority of the charges are Class A felony, each punishable by up to 50 years in prison each.
References:
Indianapolis Star, Three Suspects Arrested In 79th Street Rape Robbery
WRTV Channel 6, Three Formally Charged With 35 Counts In Rape Robbery
