Three Havasupai Men Assault Two Victims in Supai at Bottom of Grand Canyon
| U.S. Attorney’s Office February 10, 2011 |
PHOENIX—A federal grand jury on Wednesday charged Tony Crooke, 43, Robert Hastings, Jr. 22, and Victor Grounds, 30, with two counts of assault resulting in serious bodily injury, one count of assault with a dangerous weapon, and one count of witness tampering.
The indictment alleges that the defendants, all members of the Havasupai Indian Tribe, committed the assaults in Supai Village near Havasupai Falls on the Havasupai Indian Reservation at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. On December 20, 2010, at 2:30 a.m., the defendants broke into a home in Supai by kicking down the door and confronting three victims—two men and a woman—who were inside. The defendants started beating one male victim, who had been asleep, by punching him in the face. That victim suffered a broken orbital bone and lacerations to his face.
Crooke and Hastings left Grounds with the first victim and proceeded to assault another male victim in the house. They punched the victim and Crooke stabbed him in the side with a knife. The defendants asked about the whereabouts of money in the home, and searched in the pockets of the two victims they assaulted.
Finally, before the defendants left the house, they threatened the female, who had not been assaulted, that she should expect physical harm if she contacted police. The three defendants then left and police were called. The two victims were flown out of the Grand Canyon and treated at a hospital in Flagstaff.
A conviction for each count of assault carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, or both. A conviction for witness tampering carries a maximum 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, or both. An indictment is simply the method by which a person is charged with criminal activity and raises no inference of guilt. An individual is presumed innocent until competent evidence is presented to a jury that establishes guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
The FBI has partnered with the Bureau of Indian Affairs to investigate this case. The prosecution in this case is being handled by Jennifer E. Green, Assistant U.S. Attorney, District of Arizona, Phoenix.
CASE NUMBER: 11- 8018- PCT- DGC
RELEASE NUMBER: 2011-019(Crooke)