Pair held in beating of duct-taped woman at Arkansas home

Toni Renee Lum and Richard Rodney Dennis
Toni Renee Lum and Richard Rodney Dennis

HOT SPRINGS -- A man and woman were arrested Tuesday morning in the assault Monday of a woman who was bound with duct tape at her home, according to an affidavit in the case.

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Richard Rodney Dennis, 34, and Toni Renee Lum, 35, both of Hot Springs, were taken into custody at 10:45 a.m. Tuesday and each charged with first-degree false imprisonment, a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

Lum also was charged with a misdemeanor count of third-degree battery, punishable by up to one year in jail. Both remained in custody Wednesday in lieu of bonds totaling $8,000 and are scheduled to appear Sept. 5 in Garland County District Court.

According to the affidavit, the victim said she was inside her Nickens Street mobile home around noon Monday when Lum and her boyfriend, Dennis, demanded entry. Dennis forced the door open with a crowbar, and both entered the mobile home.

Dennis forced the victim into a chair in the living room with the crowbar, and Lum used silver duct tape to bind her arms and legs "under threat of violence," the affidavit said. Lum then punched the victim in the face and upper body.

The victim said that after Lum "finished beating her," Dennis cut the duct tape and they fled from the residence in a white Honda Accord with a roll of duct tape and the crowbar, according to the affidavit.

On Tuesday, Garland County sheriff's investigators saw Dennis standing next to a white Honda Accord with a woman, identified as Lum, in the passenger seat at a McDonald's on East Grand Avenue.

Dennis and Lum provided identification, and when Dennis opened the trunk of the vehicle investigators reported seeing a roll of silver duct tape next to an iron crowbar, the affidavit said.

Dennis denied being near Nickens Street on Monday, the affidavit said, but Lum admitted to being at the Nickens Street residence and said there had been an altercation.

In a later interview, Lum admitted to entering the home and binding the victim with tape, according to the affidavit. Dennis said he entered the residence with a crowbar and watched Lum bind the victim with duct tape and beat her. He said he then cut the tape before they both left.

State Desk on 08/26/2016

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