Background: The home in Knoxville, Tenn., where the alleged victim was found (Google Maps). Inset: Charles Coffman (Knox County Sheriff’s Office).
A Tennessee teenager is in jail after police said he beat a man with a plunger, then fled with the victim’s toddler.
Charles Coffman, 19, is in custody at the Knox County Jail after being charged with attempted second-degree murder, tampering with evidence, aggravated kidnapping, and theft. According to a police report obtained by local NBC affiliate WBIR, police responded to a request for a welfare check at a home in Knoxville at around 8:45 a.m. on Sunday. The caller reportedly said they believed the man inside could be dead and that his 3-year-old daughter may have been kidnapped.
The report stated that police forced their way inside and found the homeowner in the bathroom, naked and suffering from a severe head injury. The home reportedly smelled of bleach, and the child was nowhere in sight.
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According to reporting by local CBS affiliate WVLT, the alleged victim’s Ford Expedition was also missing. Not long after the police put out an alert for the car, it was found — along with Coffman, an unnamed woman, and the missing child.
In their report, police said Coffman allegedly told them that his mother had called him from jail and instructed him to get the child from the home on Mercer Street. Police said that Coffman’s mother and the alleged victim were the legal guardians of the child.
Coffman reportedly said that he and the woman took an Uber to the home, where he got into a physical altercation with the man who lived there.
Coffman reportedly told police that he “slammed the victim into the ground, struck him in the face multiple times with his fists, struck [the victim] with a toilet plunger and stuffed this plunger into the victim’s mouth.” He also reportedly admitted to “dragging the victim into the bathroom, stripping him naked, and pouring bleach on the victim’s wounds,” according to the report.
According to the police report, Coffman also admitted to stealing the alleged victim’s vehicle, but said that he had permission from the child’s mother to take it.
Police reportedly spoke to Coffman’s mother, who told them that she had not spoken to Coffman. She also allegedly stated that she “did not and would not” have allowed him to take custody of the child or permit him to steal the alleged victim’s car.
The report included statements from the unnamed woman who reportedly accompanied Coffman to the alleged victim’s home. She told police that she walked inside the house to find the man on the floor. Coffman then reportedly handed her the child and the three left in the Ford Expedition.
She reportedly told police that she overheard a conversation Coffman was having on the phone, during which time he mentioned the alleged fight and “didn’t know if the victim was alive or dead.”
The alleged victim was taken to a nearby hospital. He was diagnosed with a subdural hematoma and other serious injuries, according to the report. Police were unable to speak to him.
Coffman was booked into the Knox County Jail on Monday. His bond hearing was set for Friday.
