Trio arrested after alleged beating in barricaded home

An Oliver Springs man and two Clinton men charged with kidnapping and false imprisonment after an alleged beating in a barricaded home in Oliver Springs have court hearings Thursday.

The three were arrested after the Oliver Springs Police Department responded to a report of a person being held against their will and beaten in a Ridgeview Drive home at about 11:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 23.

A female victim, an Oliver Springs resident, flagged down officers as they approached the home, OSPD Sgt. Charles Graham said in affidavits filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court. She alleged that she and a male friend, also an Oliver Springs resident, had been barricaded inside the home, and the male had been beaten. She said she was able to flee after she pushed aside a washing machine blocking a side door.

The male victim said he had gone to the home of Derrick E. Mulkey, 25, to pay him $20 that he owed him, the affidavits said. But when he went into the back bedroom of the house with Mulkey and opened his wallet, Mulkey allegedly reached out to him, pulled his shirt over his head, and started beating him on the head and face, the court records said. Mulkey also allegedly shoved the victim over the bed, the affidavits said.

The female victim said she heard the fight and started to leave, but Mulkey allegedly said “no.” Two other men—Donnie Junior Lecomte, 19, and Timothy Adam Dopel, 26, both of Clinton—allegedly pushed a washing machine and several pieces of wood and metal against the inside of the kitchen door and did not allow the female victim to leave, according to the affidavits.

But Lecomte and Dopel both reportedly ran to the back of the house as the noises coming from the bedroom got louder and more violent, and the woman was able to escape by moving the items blocking the door and call 911, the court records said.

The male victim reportedly fled the home as Graham and OSPD K-9 Officer Nate Nelson prepared to knock on the side door and announce their presence. The man was bleeding from the nose and mouth and appeared to have a broken nose and upper lip, but he refused medical treatment, court records said.

Inside the home, Graham said, Mulkey ran out from a back bedroom yelling and screaming as officers searched the house. He would not comply with orders to get down on the floor, and he was restrained to the floor and handcuffed, the affidavits said.

Officers found Lecomte in the bathroom and Dopel in the bedroom, the affidavits said.

Nelson allegedly found a large lock-blade Gerber hunting knife that was locked open and laying on the bed under a sheet in the bedroom, affidavits said.

Interviewed by officers, Mulkey said “nothing bad happened, and that was it,” Graham said.

Lecomte and Dopel said they had “nothing to do with the incident and didn’t know what was going on,” the affidavits said.

In addition to kidnapping and two counts of false imprisonment, Mulkey has been charged with aggravated assault, especially aggravated robbery, especially aggravated kidnapping, possession of drug paraphernalia, and a weapons violation.

Lecomte and Dopel also face charges of criminal responsibility for the conduct of another.

Bond for Mulkey has been set at $250,000, and bonds for Lecomte and Dopel have been set at $150,000. All three remained jailed in the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton on Tuesday evening.

Thursday’s court hearings start at 1 p.m. Thursday in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge.

Lecomte was charged with aggravated assault in February after he allegedly beat up his girlfriend’s dad in Oak Ridge. Officers found the father lying unconscious in a Robertsville Road yard.