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LOCK HAVEN -- Two teenagers were held at an apartment in Evergreen Commons regarding damage to a door and apartment wall, according to arrest affidavits filed last week.
Three university students were arrested and face multiple felony charges after allegedly holding two teenage boys against their will in an apartment complex in mid-April.
According to information released by the Lock Haven City Police Department, Elijah Beaty, 21, D'Andre Cochran, 20, and Zaire Williams, 20, were each charged with two counts of false imprisonment of a minor, second degree felonies; two counts of criminal conspiracy false imprisonment of minors, second degree felonies; two summary counts of harassment and two summary counts of conspiracy-harassment.
The charges stem from an incident at Evergreen Commons on April 11 where Beaty, Cochran and Williams allegedly held a 13-year-old boy and 14-year-old boy against their will in an apartment.
According to arrest affidavits filed by LHPD Detective Richard Simpson, the three took the boys to the apartment because they believed they were responsible for damage to their doorway over spring break.
The following information was shared in the affidavits:
On April 11 at about 11:33 p.m., city police officers were informed of an alleged abduction involving several juveniles being held against their will who were recently released.
On the scene, officers spoke with the juveniles' mothers who the two were walking in the area of Evergreen Commons and were abducted by the tenants in room 438.
"It was reported (they) were accused of causing damage to a door at room 438. It was reported that (the juveniles) were taken upstairs to room 438 and ordered to pay $250 or take their clothes off," the affidavit said. The report further stated one of the juveniles was "dragged by the hood of his sweatshirt upstairs to the room."
One of the juveniles' mothers said she was able to Facetime the child and she spoke with one of the tenants with the juveniles being released shortly after the call.
While speaking with the parents, officers were approached by two men, Beaty and Cochran, who said they lived in room 438. The affidavit noted Beaty had a piece of paper with one of the juveniles' name and address on it.
"Beaty and Cochran stated that for the last 3 to 4 months, they have been harassed by younger teenagers," the affidavit said.
The two also told police that, about a month ago, after returning from spring break they found damage to their apartment where the door was pushed in, causing damage to the wall.
Cochran and Beaty were told by Evergreen Commons staff they would be responsible for paying the $250 to fix the door.
"Beaty and Cochran advised that they were trying to make attempts to identify the persons responsible for the damage," the affidavit said.
This led to the events of that evening, with Beaty telling police they confronted a group of juveniles they suspected caused the damage to the door "because they were outside in the grassy area, west of the apartment building, yelling at them like they have done in the past," the affidavit said.
Beaty and Cochran told police they invited three of the juveniles into their apartment to show them the damage and attempt to ID their parents to get restitution.
While still on scene, officers were approached by Williams who said he was hanging out with Cochran and Beaty in their apartment when the incident occurred.
He told police the kids were "running around in the grassy area yelling at them while they were in the apartment."
"Williams stated Beaty and Cochran advised that they believed these kids running around were the ones that caused damage to the wall on the apartment, so they all went downstairs to talk with them, as they were frustrated that they were on the hook for $250 in damages," the affidavit said.
Williams said once downstairs, one juvenile ran away but the other two agreed to come upstairs.
When asked directly by officers if they had forced or compelled the kids to go to the room, Williams said no.
"Williams stated that they did no such thing, as they were aware that they were just kids," the affidavit said.
After they went upstairs, Williams said he left the apartment to go get ready to go out for the night.
Simpson reviewed camera footage at Evergreen Commons a few days after the incident. His review of the footage saw two male juveniles come into the camera view, walking east behind the building.
"One male juvenile... moves over and stands behind an outside HVAC unit. The other male juvenile starts to run away as they are being chased by two male adults, later identified as Elijah Beaty and Zaire Williams. Both Beaty and Williams chase after the one male juvenile while (the other) stands next to the HVAC unit with his hands up," the affidavit said.
After the other male juvenile was chased out of the camera frame, the affidavit said Beaty and Williams came back and approached the juvenile by the HVAC unit.
"Williams waves for (him) to follow him along with Beaty," the affidavit said. "(The juvenile) starts to follow Williams walking east towards the entrance to the apartments. Moments later, (the juvenile) stops, then Williams grabs or pushes the back of (his) head and escorts him into the entrance of the apartments and out of camera view."
Police interviewed the juveniles who were taken to the apartment following review of the camera footage.
The first juvenile told police he walked with two of his friends to Evergreen Commons that evening and said one of the other juveniles was "yelling and screaming at the college kids while he got closer to the apartment building."
The juvenile told police he and the other two juveniles were at the apartment building for about 30 to 45 minutes before the college kids came down after them. He stated two men came outside after them and that there were "five more males in the room they were taken to."
The juvenile said he remained by the HVAC unit while the other two juveniles ran away.
He stated he was grabbed by one of the men, later identified as Williams, by his hoodie and taken to the apartment.
"(The juvenile) stated that when he got into the apartment he was told that he had to pay for the door or he was walking home naked. (He) reported that approximately five minutes later he called (another juvenile) and the two males that got him went downstairs and got (the other juvenile) and brought him into the apartment," the affidavit stated.
The juvenile stated when the second boy was brought to the apartment, he was also being grabbed by his hoodie.
The juvenile told police Beaty started recording him and was asking what they should do with him.
"(The juvenile) stated that it was also said, the next time they see them they are going to beat them up," the affidavit said.
The juvenile told police he was inside the apartment for about 20 minutes before he was able to Facetime his mother to try and pay for the doorway or "they would walk home naked."
The juvenile's mother told police her son Facetimed her and asked for the $250 for the damage to the door, though he stated he had not caused it.
The mother said she told him to "stop playing and come home" but called back to ask what had happened.
The mother asked to see the damage to the door and was shown the wall. When asked to speak to one of the men in the apartment, the affidavit said none wanted to speak to her.
Eventually, the affidavit said Beaty allegedly got on the phone, though the mother couldn't see his face.
"(She) advised that she told the boy to let her kid go and that she is not paying for anything," the affidavit said.
She said they wanted the name and information of the other boy who was with her son, which was provided to them.
Following this, the mother told police both juveniles were let go.
Based on the four Facetime calls between the mother and her son, the affidavit estimated the boys were kept in the apartment from about 9:28 p.m. to 10:01 p.m.
The second juvenile in the apartment was interviewed later in April with his parent.
He told police that he and the other juveniles were "just messing around" when the college kids came out and chased them.
While one juvenile remained at the HVAC unit, he and the third juvenile ran away. However, after receiving a call from the juvenile who was taken, he returned to the apartment.
The second juvenile told police that while at the apartment, they gave information about the third kid to the college kids. Two of the individuals, the juvenile told police, went to the third juvenile's house to try and find him.
"(The juvenile) advised that they were left in the apartment with two or three other guys. (He) advised that they just sat there until the two guys got back from looking for (the third juvenile)," the affidavit said. "(He) stated that he was told he couldn't leave."
The third juvenile, when interviewed by police, said he ran back to his apartment when the college kids chased them.
"(He) advised that he was at Evergreen Commons and a kid came outside and accused them of ding, dong, ditching at their apartment... and accused them of breaking a door," he said.
Beaty was the final individual to be interviewed on May 1, according to the arrest affidavit.
He told police that there had been disturbances at the apartment since the fall semester "with kids banging and kicking on the doors, with yelling."
According to the affidavit, Beaty said this would happen "every couple of weeks" and that he couldn't figure out who was doing it.
When he returned from Spring Break, Beaty said a roommate left the door unlocked so they could move back in, the affidavit said.
Once there, they noticed there was a hole in the door and none of the roommates had done it. Beaty told police it had appeared as if the door was pushed open and the handle put a hole in the door.
On April 11, Beaty told police he had friends over to the apartment to watch TV and hang out when they heard yelling outside including "multiple curse words, name calling and slander."
"Beaty advised they were spitting up towards the third floor that they were one," the affidavit said.
Beaty told police they believed these juveniles may have been the ones to cause the damage to the apartment door.
According to the affidavit, Beaty said the group discussed going outside and seeing "if we can get something out of them" leading to himself and Williams going outside.
When he and Williams got outside, he told police one juvenile immediately gave himself up while chased after another kid. He told police he and Williams asked the kid to stop "to come with him to show the damage."
Beaty said after the first kid was taken to the apartment, they were told by the juvenile he didn't cause the damage but he knew who did it. He told the group his friend caused the damage, the affidavit said.
Attempts to call the juvenile were unsuccessful, the affidavit read, leading to Beaty and Williams going to an address -- provided by the juvenile -- to try and locate the other juvenile.
After believing they were sent the wrong address, Beaty told police they returned to the apartment where the first juvenile was calling his mother. He alleged the juvenile was lying about the events that took place, the affidavit said.
When the mother asked to speak with one of them, Beaty said he took the phone and "the mother said something about them holding the kids hostage. Beaty advised that the two kids then left the apartment."
When questioned about whether or not he grabbed either of the juveniles to bring them up to the apartment, Beaty denied doing so.
Arrest warrants were issued for the three on Aug. 6, with all three arrested the same day and taken to the Clinton County Correctional Facility for arraignment.
Beaty, Cochran and Williams are currently out on $40,000 unsecured bail, according to police.