A 19-year-old Altoona man is behind bars today after police arrested him on charges that he raped a 16-year-old Tyrone girl Wednesday night on Pennsylvania Avenue.
\nAccording to police, the victim was at her friend\u2019s home and two males were at the Mario\u2019s Pizza on Pennsylvania Avenue when Brandon L. Thompkins began conversing with the victim. She told police he wanted her to show him where the bathroom was at her friend\u2019s house so he could talk to her.
\nOnce inside the bathroom, police said he began to kiss her, and when she told him \u201cno,\u201d he pushed her to the floor, pulled down her pants and engaged in sexual intercourse with her.
\nPolice said Thompkins held her arms behind her head with his right hand and covered her mouth with his left hand.
\n\u201cI don\u2019t think he hurt her physically,\u201d said Tyrone Police Chief Joe Beachem. \u201cThe rape was a violent act in itself, but I don\u2019t think he hit her or anything like that.\u201d
\nBeachem did say he didn\u2019t think the girl knew Thompkins, but said he believed they had a mutual friend.
\nPolice were summoned to the area of the crime shortly thereafter and spoke with the victim. She told police the perpetrator was a skinny male with dread locks and was wearing blue jeans, a white T-shirt and a red and white hat. She also said the man was in a dark green car and was in the company of a man of Asian descent.
\nA second witness also confirmed the descriptions.
\nThe victim, according to police, was taken to Tyrone Hospital by patrolman Jessica Barlick, and a rape kit was performed.
\nMeanwhile, patrolman Greg Ray was patrolling the area hoping to find a vehicle that matched the description offered by the two young women.
\nAt around 1:30 a.m. yesterday, Ray spotted a green 1994 Infiniti J30, which matched the description, parked at Sheetz on Logan Avenue.
\nPolice said the vehicle contained Thompkins, 19-year-old Stephen K. Holmberg of Altoona, 20-year-old Cercia Shovan Johnson of Altoona, and 18-year-old Ashley Pierce of Gallitzin.
\nPolice said after speaking with the individuals, Thompkins was led from the passenger side of the vehicle and taken into custody for the rape. While searching Thompkins\u2019 person, police discovered a Pennsylvania State Police Record of Sale form for a handgun in Thompkins back pocket.
\nFearing for the safety of fellow officers and himself, Ray looked inside the vehicle and discovered Holmberg had his feet on what Ray believed was a gun case. Police said Holmberg refused to move his feet and had to be forcibly removed from the vehicle.
\nInside the box, officers discovered a Hi-Point model JCP .40-caliber Smith and Wesson Pistol, which matched the paperwork found in Holmberg\u2019s pocket.
\nAfter Holmberg was taken into custody, Ray asked the driver of the vehicle, Pierce, for the vehicle information. When she opened the glovebox, another handgun was found \u2013 a Hi-Point model 09 9mm Luger.
\nBarlick then arrived on scene and both Pierce and Johnson were removed from the vehicle. Pierce was removed without incident, but Johnson needed to be physically removed. When Johnson exited the vehicle, another gun was located under the driver\u2019s seat at Johnson\u2019s feet. This weapon was a Hi-Point model C 9mm.
\nPolice said the pistols found in the glovebox and under the driver\u2019s seat were loaded, however, the pistol located in the gun case was not.
\nWhen asked to identify themselves, the men gave false names to officers. Thompkins claimed he was Brian Jones and Holmberg claimed he was Adam Shaw. Both men were transported to the Altoona Police Department for positive identification.
\nThompkins is charged with felony rape, felony sexual assault, felony aggravated assault, felony gun possession and misdemeanor crimes of indecent assault, two counts, and false identification to law enforcement. He was arraigned before District Magistrate Fred Miller and jailed in the Blair County Prison.
\nHolmberg, Pierce and Johnson were each charged with felony gun possession, possessing an instrument of crime and possession of prohibited weapons. In addition, Holmberg was charged with false identification to law enforcement. Each were arraigned by Magistrate Miller and incarcerated at BCP.
\nYesterday, Magistrate Miller noted that he wasn\u2019t aware if any of the defendants had hired legal counsel for their cases. Preliminary hearings are scheduled for July 1.
\n\u201cThis investigation is still on-going,\u201d said Beachem, noting the a few of the suspects\u2019 names were recently announced in an \u201cAll Points Bulletin\u201d by the state\u2019s Attorney General\u2019s office. \u201cMore charges could come of this and our force, as well as a good number of other departments, are looking into these people and what they have been doing.\u201d
\nBeachem said this arrest was key in protecting the residents of Tyrone Borough, as have the recent arrests made also involving violent activity.
\n\u201cThis is a really significant arrest in light of what happened here last week,\u201d said Beachem. \u201cThere are some outside influences coming into our borough and this police force has an eye on what these people are doing.\u201d
\nLast Tuesday at 11:40 p.m., police received a call from a concerned resident stating there were three men in Alley F near the old peanut factory with baseball bats and wearing ski masks.
\nBeachem said officers were on scene in a matter of minutes and arrested James Potts and William Helsel, both of Hollidaysburg, and Gerald Price of Altoona. He said Potts threw a pistol into a dumpster as soon as police arrived.
\n\u201cThey said they were there to beat someone up, but they wouldn\u2019t say who or why,\u201d said Beachem.
\nPotts was arrested on a gun charge and various other crimes, including loitering and prowling, disorderly conduct and possessing an instrument of crime. Helsel and Price were arrested on loitering charges. All three men were arraigned before Magistrate Miller and placed in BCP.
\nTyrone Mayor Patricia Stoner said she is very proud that Tyrone Borough has such a dedicated police force.
\n\u201cI\u2019m very proud and the citizens of this borough should also be proud of what this police force does here in Tyrone,\u201d said Stoner. \u201cMuch of the criminal activity taking place in the borough recently has been caused by people who don\u2019t live in Tyrone.
\n\u201cI applaud the police force for their perception and ability to single these people out and take them into custody, given the seriousness of the offenses,\u201d said Stoner.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A 19-year-old Altoona man is behind bars today after police arrested him on charges that he raped a 16-year-old Tyrone girl Wednesday night on Pennsylvania Avenue. According to police, the victim was at her friend\u2019s home and two males were at the Mario\u2019s Pizza on Pennsylvania Avenue when Brandon L. Thompkins began conversing with the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-46319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news-in-the-tyrone-pennsylvania-area"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46319","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=46319"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46319\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=46319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=46319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=46319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}