A pair of Carter County brothers face multiple charges after police say they forced their way into a woman’s home brandishing a gun and threatened her over a cell phone.
On Wednesday evening, officers of the Elizabethton Police Department arrested Corey Holsclaw, 21, of 116 Buckles Road, Elizabethton, and Anthony Holsclaw, 19, of 105 Heather Lane, Elizabethton, on warrants charging both men with aggravated burglary and aggravated assault.
At the time of their arrest, police said Corey Holsclaw and Anthony Holsclaw attempted to flee from officers and were found in possession of drugs. Officers additionally charged Corey Holsclaw with possession of Schedule II drugs, possession of Schedule III drugs, evading arrest, possession of drug paraphernalia and disorderly conduct. He was also served with outstanding warrants charging him with violation of probation and three counts of failure to appear. Officers additionally charged Anthony Holsclaw with possession of Schedule II drugs, possession of Schedule III drugs, possession of drug paraphernalia and evading arrest.
The investigation which led to the brothers’ arrest began earlier in the day on Wednesday when an Elizabethton woman reported two men had forced their way into her home armed with a gun.
The woman told officers Corey Holsclaw had visited her home and shortly after he left, she heard a phone ringing. She found a cell phone under a piece of furniture in a bedroom of the home.
“She answered, and the person on the other end claimed to be Corey’s father saying she better return Corey’s phone to him,” EPD Sgt. Christopher Bowers said, adding the woman assumed one of her children must have picked the phone up and hid it without anyone noticing it.
The woman told officers while she was on the phone she heard a knock at the door and a friend who was in her home answered it. Her friend was then shoved back inside the apartment and Corey Holsclaw and Anthony Holsclaw, whom the women knew as “Bo,” came inside uninvited, the woman said.
“Both (the woman and her friend) said Bo had a black semi-automatic pistol in his hand that he racked, loading a round in the chamber,” Bowers said. “They said Bo was threatening them over stealing Corey’s phone.”
The woman said she still had Corey Holsclaw’s phone in her hand so she threw it outside and told them to leave, which they did. The women then called 911. In addition to the two women, there were four children inside the home at the time of the brothers allegedly forced their way in.
EPD Officer Eric Buck arrived and while he was speaking to the two women, the friend received a phone call, which was later determined to come from Anthony Holsclaw, asking why they had called police, Bowers said. Anthony Holsclaw then allegedly told the friend he and his brother were watching the women from the woods and the gun had only been a “water gun.”
Around 6:15 Wednesday evening, undercover officers with the Elizabethton Police Department were conducting a drug investigation at Building B in the Lynnwood Apartment complex when they spotted Corey Holsclaw and Anthony Holsclaw outside one of the apartments and alerted other officers.
EPD Cpl. Ryan Brackett responded to the apartments and spotted the brothers standing in the doorway to apartment B1. When the two men spotted officers they fled inside the apartment, Brackett said.
Brackett and other officers followed the men inside where they apprehended Anthony Holsclaw in the kitchen and then located Corey Holsclaw attempting to hide in a closet, Brackett said, adding the two brothers were taken into custody on warrants charging them with aggravated burglary and aggravated assault in connection with the earlier incident at the woman’s home.
While officers were searching the brothers following their arrest, Brackett said both Corey Holsclaw and Anthony Holsclaw were found in possession of drugs and drug paraphernalia.
As officers were taking the two men out of the apartment to the police cars, Brackett said Corey Holsclaw began screaming and yelling profanities in the presence of children and other adults at the apartment complex.
Officers transported the brothers to the Carter County Detention Center. Corey Holsclaw remains held under a total bond of $72,250 while Anthony Holsclaw is held under a total bond of $67,000. Both men are scheduled to be arraigned in General Sessions Court today.