Fort Drum Soldiers Charged by A.P.

Eleven Fort Drum soldiers burst into a fellow soldier's home and attacked him and his wife, kicking him repeatedly and punching her in the face, authorities said Friday.

The attack late Wednesday was in retaliation for the earlier arrest of another soldier, state police said.

Carl Laws, 22, and his wife, Emily Hernandez, 21, were released from Samaritan Medical Center after treatment for multiple cuts and bruises.

Their attackers were charged with second-degree burglary, a felony that involves causing injury, and one also faces a second-degree assault charge, said State Police Investigator Randy Pound.

The dispute erupted after a soldier, who wasn't involved in the attack, was arrested on a criminal complaint filed by the couple, Pound said. The complaint involved violation of an order of protection, but authorities were not immediately able to provide more details.

Additional charges in the home invasion are possible after the case is presented to a grand jury, Pound said.

Fort Drum spokesman Lt. Col. Paul Fitzpatrick confirmed that all 11 were members of the 10th Mountain Division stationed at Fort Drum and part of the same unit. He declined to identify the unit and said he could not immediately provide individual background information on the soldiers.

Although the investigation and prosecution is being handled by civilian authorities, Army officials will review the case.

“We support the investigation. The Army does not tolerate this kind of conduct. It is not what the Army represents, or stands for. It is totally out of character with our training and values,” Fitzpatrick said.

Troopers said Hernandez and Laws were in their off-post home in LeRay on Wednesday when someone knocked on their door just before 10 p.m.

The intruders pushed into the home and began assaulting the couple, Pound said.

Laws said he was knocked down and kicked numerous times in the body and head. Hernandez said she was punched and hit in the face with a glass bottle.

Charged with burglary were Shalota Williams, 22; Tyson Tucker, 20; Martin Johnson, 22; Jason Cofield, 25; Erica Hodges, 19; Shavonn Wynne, 22; Vianka DelCid, 19; Tyrone Lihpai, 22; James Skinner, 27; Carlton Causey, 28; and Randi Bush, 18.

Wynne was also charged with second-degree assault for hitting Hernandez, Pound said.

All but one of the soldiers were ordered held in the Jefferson County jail on $5,000 bail each after arraignment in Pamelia Town Court. Williams was turned over to her military superiors.

Fort Drum is a sprawling base some 75 miles north of Syracuse in upstate New York. It is home to the 10th Mountain Division, a force of 17,000 soldiers that has been one of the mainstays of Army deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Fitzpatrick said he did not believe any of the soldiers had been recently deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan.