Crime & Courts

Troopers: Three arrested for brutal crowbar beating of Emmonak man

Three people were accused of assaulting a man with a crowbar and threatening a woman and her children with a pistol during a homebrew-fueled rampage in a Western Alaska village, Alaska State Troopers said.

According to a trooper dispatch, 21-year-old Jereith Jimmy, 23-year-old Karl Kelly and 23-year-old Doran Jennings were drinking homebrew at a home in Emmonak when they went to the house next door and assaulted the man with the crowbar shortly after midnight Thursday.

Jennings then held a .40-caliber handgun to the man's head and threatened to kill him, troopers said. Jennings turned the gun on another occupant of the house, his sister, and told her he'd kill her and her two children if she called law enforcement, troopers said. Before he, Kelly and Jimmy fled, Jennings fired four rounds. The bullets struck a wall near his sister.

Troopers tracked down Jennings and had a "brief struggle" before they arrested him.

Troopers chased Jimmy to a residence and also struggled with him before he was arrested.

Kelly was arrested without incident at 11:30 a.m. Thursday, trooper spokesperson Timothy DeSpain said.

The male victim suffered serious internal injuries and was taken to Bethel for treatment, troopers said. Jennings also received minor injuries during his arrest.

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Troopers said alcohol was a factor in the assault. Emmonak became a dry village in 1991, banning the sale, importation and possession of alcohol.

All three men will be taken to the Yukon Kuskokwim Correctional Center, DeSpain said.

Megan Edge

Megan Edge is a former reporter for Alaska Dispatch and Alaska Dispatch News.

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