Incident at Stoney Creek home leads to 4 arrests

Published 6:15 pm Monday, August 13, 2018

A 911 call about two armed subjects who reportedly forced their way into a Stoney Creek home led to four arrests over the weekend.

Deputies of the Carter County Sheriff’s Office arrested Crystal Rainbolt, 35, of Elizabethton, and Adam Hinkle, 38, of 1902 Highway 91, on Saturday and charged each of them with especially aggravated burglary, aggravated assault, vandalism, and criminal trespassing. Deputies also arrested Tina Rainbolt, 41, and Joseph Hill, 39, both of 204 Melody Lane, Elizabethton, and charged each of them with the unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

Subscribe to our free email newsletter

Get the latest news sent to your inbox

On Saturday, deputies of the CCSO responded to the home at 204 Melody Lane on a report of two suspects who were armed and had forced their way into the home while the resident was inside.

When CCSO Deputy Hal Adair arrived on the scene, he said he spoke with Hill who told the officer Crystal Rainbolt and a tall, skinny male with a beard and all black clothing had broken his door with a crowbar.

“Joseph stated that Crystal had a pistol and tried to kill him and that Crystal had fired a shot at him as he was still inside the home and another shot as he ran down the driveway to escape,” Adair said in a court document.

Despite a report that the suspects had fled the scene on foot, Adair said he saw someone inside the home.

“Sheriff Dexter Lunceford arrived on scene and attempted to contact the occupants of the home via cell phone,” Adair said. “One of the calls was answered and said ‘It’s been a bad day’ and hung up the phone.”

Adair said he and other officers surrounded the house and Crystal Rainbolt and the male subject, who was later identified as Hinkle, exited the home and surrendered. According to Adair, Crystal Rainbolt initially denied having a pistol or being involved in a burglary but later admitted to knowing the location of the pistol. Deputies had Crystal Rainbolt show them the location of the pistol and found a .22 caliber revolver containing six rounds and one of the rounds had been fired, according to Adair.

While there was no evidence found to indicate a shot had been fired inside the home, Adair said officers did observe several marks on the front door of the home along with more marks on the bedroom door and bathroom door which had been broken off the hinges.

As officers searched the area around the home, Adair said deputies located a blue backpack near a tree house in the woods in front of the residence that contained food, drinks, prescription medication, a crowbar, a razor blade, and 54 additional rounds of .22 caliber ammunition.

Deputy Thomas Hill reported that while he was transporting Hinkle to the Carter County Detention Center Hinkle began talking about the incident.

“Deputy Hill informed me that as he was transporting Adam to the Detention Center Adam admitted to camping out at the tree house with Crystal and watching to see if the residents were home before they made entry,” Adair said. “Adam said that Crystal had the intent to kill Joseph, and (they) were hiding outside the residence for about 30 minutes before they made entry. Adam admitted to bringing the pistol along with extra ammunition because they did not know how many people were going to be at the residence.”

“Adam also stated that while he and Crystal were in the home he told Joseph he better leave because Crystal was going to kill him,” he continued. “As Joseph was running down the driveway Adam fired one shot in the air.”

Adair said after Hinkle and Crystal Rainbolt were taken to the jail to be booked in, deputies found additional weapons inside the home. Tina Rainbolt was identified as the primary homeowner and Hill had been living there for about three months, according to Adair. Tina Rainbolt arrived on the scene after deputies responded to the call about the break-in.

“A 7.62mm SKS rifle with five magazines and two scopes were found in a black rifle case beside the bed where Tina and Joseph sleep,” Adair said. “A locked safe was also recovered in the room near the rifle.”

Deputies opened the safe and located three pistols inside.

“Both Tina and Joseph denied having anything to do with both the rifle and the safe,” Adair said. “Tina and Joseph both said they had no idea how the rifle or safe got in the home and insisted that Crystal or Adam had brought in the items upon the initial break-in.”

Adair said he confirmed through CCSO headquarters that both Hill and Tina Rainbolt are convicted felons and not allowed to legally possess firearms. Deputies then placed Hill and Tina Rainbolt under arrest on charges of unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

The incident is still under investigation at this time by the CCSO.

Carter County Sheriff Dexter Lunceford said Crystal Rainbolt had lived at the Melody Lane residence at one time but it was his understanding that she did not currently live there.

CCSO Public Information Officer Thomas Gray confirmed that deputies have responded to other incidents at the Melody Lane residence previously involving Crystal Rainbolt and Tina Rainbolt. Gray said an incident in May listed Crystal Rainbolt and Tina Rainbolt as being married to each other but added it is unclear if they are still married at this time. According to Gray, statements by those involved referred to Crystal Rainbolt and Tina Rainbolt being exes, but deputies do not know if they are formally divorced or just separated.