Duran Maszae Lee
An Oak Ridge man has been indicted on charges of aggravated robbery and aggravated assault for an alleged home-invasion robbery on Dewey Road three years ago.
Duran Maszae Lee, 32, has been charged with aggravated robbery, two counts of aggravated assault, tampering with evidence, and possession of more than 14.175 grams of marijuana. The indictments were returned by the Anderson County Grand Jury on October 4.
Lee has an arraignment scheduled for Monday in Anderson County Circuit and Criminal Court in Clinton.
He remains jailed in the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton, according to jail records.
Arrest warrants filed after the alleged robbery on Dewey Road on November 22, 2013, said an Oak Ridge man was allegedly hit in the head and face with a pistol and a woman who was nine months pregnant at the time blacked out from fear when a suspect pointed a silver revolver at her during the Friday night home invasion.
The suspects allegedly stole a Sentry safe containing $3,000 from a closet and fled in a vehicle before officers arrived, according to affidavits attached to the arrest warrants and filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge.
But the white 2008 Cadillac CTS four-door sedan crashed into a utility pole a few minutes later on Delaware Avenue, less than a mile from the Dewey Road home, according to an Oak Ridge Police Department crash report filed at the time.
Lee was the driver and also one of the home invasion suspects, authorities said then. Lee allegedly had three plastic baggies in his rear pocket, and they contained a green leafy-like plant substance believed to be marijuana, the affidavits said. The baggies contained a total of 21.9 grams of suspected marijuana packaged for sale, ORPD Detective Kevin Craig said in the affidavits.
Police found a silver revolver handgun about 56 feet from the vehicle, and the defendant had been observed near the pistol before police arrived, Craig said. Red liquid on the gun, consistent with blood, was allegedly found just behind the cylinder.
Charges against Lee were bound to the grand jury on February 2, according to court records.
An indictment moves a case from general sessions court to criminal court.
The two victims in the case were allegedly attacked outside their Dewey Road home between 9:40 and 10:02 p.m. Friday, November 22, 2013, according to a police report filed then by ORPD Officer Benjamin Higgins. The man, who had minor injuries, said Lee struck him in the face and head with the gun and then ran into the house as a second suspect held him down.
The man said he found the house in disarray when he entered after the suspects fled, and the safe, which included $1,200 in new $100 bills, was missing, according to the affidavits.
Craig said the safe was located in plain view in the trunk of the Cadillac driven by Lee that crashed on Delaware Avenue. A search of Lee found $3,200 in his underwear, Craig said.
The crash report by Officer Matthew Johnston said there were two other passengers in the Cadillac, which went off the right side of Delaware Avenue before hitting a utility pole east of Outer Drive at about 10:06 p.m. that Friday.
More information will be added as it becomes available.
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