Justine Wettschreck
Worthington Daily Globe - 02/27/2009
WINDOM -- Two sisters are facing assault, burglary and trespassing charges after allegedly breaking into a woman's home and assaulting her and a man.
Tawana Lynn Stevens, 27, of Bingham Lake, and Tanaya Marie Renquist, 21, of Windom, are each charged with first-degree burglary, two counts of fifth-degree assault, trespass and fourth-degree damage to property. Stevens also faces a count of domestic assault.
The complaint states authorities were called at 2:08 a.m. to a residence on 12th Street in Windom after the woman who rented the house called 911. When law enforcement arrived, they found a vehicle running with no one inside. An officer recognized the car as belonging to Renquist.
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As they approached the house, they could hear female voices yelling inside. Upon entering the house, they saw a male victim in the kitchen, along with a female victim who was wrapped in a bed sheet and crying. In the doorway were the two sisters, who were yelling at the victims and calling them names.
An officer told the sisters to go into the living room. Once the parties were separated, the defendants told the officer that Stevens is married to the male victim. While he was talking to Stevens, the officer had to stop her from going back into the kitchen twice.
The male victim had a black eye, a scratch on his cheek and blood running down his face. The female victim had scratches above her eye, on her neck and below her ear. She later indicated to an officer she might need to go to the hospital because she was experiencing hearing loss in her right ear.
The female victim said she was sleeping in her bed and the male was sleeping on the couch when they heard banging on the front door, then the back door and her bedroom window. The back door opened up and the sisters came into the house, went into the bedroom and allegedly started hitting the woman, knocking her to the ground.
The man came into the room, and the two allegedly began to hit him also. He said he wasn't sure who gave him the black eye because they were both hitting him. In a signed statement, the man said when the female victim was knocked to the ground the sisters began to kick her.
When he tried to come to her aid, the sisters began to punch and kick him, he stated. He said he didn't swing or punch at either of the sisters, but tried to block them from getting at the woman.
When an officer began to escort Stevens to the front door, she allegedly lunged at the woman and had to be pulled away. She also lunged at the man and spit in his face as she was brought past. When Stevens was put in a squad car and informed she was under arrest, she argued she did not break into the house because the door was unlocked.
Renquist, who has two controlled substance cases pending, smelled strongly of alcohol, according to the deputy escorting her to the law enforcement center.
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She allegedly admitted she had been at a bar earlier in the evening, so she was asked to provide a breathe sample. Her conditions of release from jail on the drug charges include a no alcohol and drugs provision. The complaint states she blew a .09 blood alcohol concentration on the Intoxilyzer.
Both sisters posted a non-cash bond Tuesday. Their next court appearances will be at 4 p.m. March 9.
