Three men were arrested Tuesday in connection with two home invasions that occurred last week in which two women were raped and property was stolen from the homes last week in Gallatin and Castalian Springs.

One of the suspects is also charged with robbing two employees of a Hendersonville store at gunpoint on Sunday.

Another one of the subjects had pled guilty in December to two of four charges of statutory rape and was out of jail on judicial diversion and eligible to have his record expunged.

The men arrested were Emonnie Branch, Jr., age 18, of Hendersonville, Dewayne Fleming, age 20, of Hendersonville, and Mitchell Beverly, Jr., who has an address of Murfreesboro listed in one affidavit filed in Sumner County General Sessions Court, and another address of Semmes, Alabama listed in another affidavit.

According to the court filings, the first incident occurred on the 400 block of Harsh Lane in the Castalian Springs area on Tuesday, June 12, at around 10:30 pm when Branch and Fleming “burst” into the victim's bedroom.

Branch allegedly “was armed with a black handgun and a flashlight and ordered the victims to the floor,” according to one of the affidavits.

Branch then ordered Fleming to tie up the husband with a bed sheet, the affidavit filed by Sumner County Sheriff's Office Detective Ron Brawner reads.

“Branch then took the wife into the master bathroom and raped her repeatedly,” Brawner wrote. “Branch and Fleming then took property belonging to the victims from the residence. The value of that property was in excess of $10,000.”

Brawner wrote in the affidavit that Beverly “had provided the location for the burglary and the layout of the house...as he had previously lived there” as a youth.

On Thursday, June 14, Investigator Christian Booth with the Gallatin  Police Department was called to investigate a similar incident on the 100 block of Jill Avenue in Gallatin.

“Two persons entered this residence with black bandanas over their faces,” Booth wrote in his affidavit filed in Sumner County General Sessions Court. “One was armed with a gun and one was armed with a baseball bat.”

“Four adults inside the house were ordered to the ground and assailants demanded their money,” Booth wrote. “One victim was led to the rear bedroom by the (black male) suspect, where she was raped by him. All persons were kept from leaving the residence during the invasion. The two assailants left the residence taking with them electronics, jewelry, cash and other (miscellaneous) items.”

According to Booth's affidavit, a joint investigation by the Gallatin Police Department and the Sumner County Sheriff's Office learned that items from the first incident were pawned at a pawn shop in Gallatin, which led them to a location and subsequent traffic stop of a vehicle in which authorities found Branch and Beverly.

“Found inside the vehicle were gloves, dark clothes, black and blue bandanas, knives, and a BB pistol,” Booth wrote in his affidavit. “Beverly admitted his involvement to the home invasion and indicated Branch was the other assailant.”

Branch also had tattoos matching those described by the victims, and Beverly also indicated that Dewayne Fleming had told them about  the weapon and money inside the Jill Street residence, according to the affidavit.

Law enforcement authorities were later able to locate Fleming and place him under arrest.

Branch was charged with four counts of aggravated rape, six counts of aggravated robbery, six counts of aggravated burglary, one count of especially aggravated kidnapping, and one count of theft over $1,000, as of this posting.

He was held in the Sumner County Jail on $4 million dollar bond.

Fleming was charged with facilitation of aggravated rape, two counts of facilitation of aggravated robbery, two counts of especially aggravated kidnapping, two counts of aggravated robbery, aggravated burglary, and theft over $1,000, as of this posting.

He was held in the Sumner County Jail on $2.5 million bond.

Fleming pled guilty to two counts of statutory rape on December 12, 2011. Two other charges were dropped as part of a plea deal.

According to records in the Sumner County Criminal Court Clerk's Office, he was accused of engaging in sexual relations on four occasions with a 13-year-old on Center Point Road between 2010-2011, with the last incident happening on March 20, 2011.

He was 18 and 19 years of age at the times of the incidents, according to court records.

Beverly was charged with five counts of facilitation to commit aggravated robbery, four counts of especially aggravated kidnapping,  two counts of facilitation to commit aggravated burglary, and one count each of facilitation to commit aggravated robbery and facilitation to commit aggravated rape, as of this posting.

He is also accused of aggravated robbery from a separate incident that took place on Sunday in which he and another man allegedly robbed two store employees on the 200 block of New Shackle Island Road just after 11 pm.

“The victims reported two male subjects robbed them of cash and an I-Phone while they were about to leave the business (after closing it),” Hendersonville officer Jim Bachman wrote in another affidavit filed in Sumner County General Sessions Court. The victims reported one of the male subjects held them at gun point. The subjects wore gloves and bandanas over their faces.”

Bachman wrote that the Beverly confessed to the crime.

He was held in the Sumner County Jail on $1.6 million bond.

Hendersonville police are continuing their investigation into identifying the second suspect as of this posting.

The charges on each of the three could be changed as authorities continue their investigation.

The trio are scheduled to appear in Sumner County General Sessions Court on July 18, 2012, and August 18, 2012, on the home invasion/rape/theft cases. One date is scheduled for the case handled by the Sumner County Sheriff's Office, while the other pertains to the case within Gallatin city limits.

The cases, however, could be combined and a single court date set for all of the charges, according to court officials.

Beverly was also scheduled to appear in General Sessions Court July 25, 2012, on the aggravated robbery case.

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