A junior sailor and her husband were arrested last week after police said they lured would-be thieves onto their property and then attacked them with a baseball bat.
Aviation Ordnance Airman Savannah L. Grillot, 29, and her husband, 25-year-old Corey Curnutt, were arrested Wednesday at their residence on Naval Air Station Lemoore, California, according to the Visalia Police Department.
The alleged assaults occurred last year at the couple’s prior residence in Visalia, a town about 35 miles east of the Navy base.
They began in July, lasted through November and “were posted by the suspects on YouTube,” according to a police statement.
“In the videos, it appears as if the suspects planted a bicycle in the front yard of their residence, unsecured, and waited for someone to try and steal the bicycle,” police said. “Once someone tried to steal the bike, the suspects would rush from the house and assault the individual with a baseball bat.”
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At least four people were identified as having been assaulted by the duo, and they received various non-life-threatening injuries, according to police.
An anonymous tip led to the arrests of Grillot and Curnutt last week, police spokeswoman Sgt. Celeste Sanchez said.
The two were booked on assault with a deadly weapon and conspiracy charges, according to police.
They were each released on $50,000 bail the same day, according to Tulare County Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman Teresa Douglass.
Reached Tuesday by Navy Times, Curnutt declined to comment.
Sanchez said police received two burglary calls to Grillot and Curnutt’s Visalia residence last year.
A GoFundMe page set up to help the couple with “expensive bondsman and lawyer fees" states that the couple had their car broken into, as well as their power tools and their son’s bike stolen while living in Visalia.
“Law enforcement was contacted and reports were filed but nothing was done, no one was arrested for trespassing or buglary (sic),” the page states. “They were told nothing could be done to help them.”
The page also takes issues with the police statement alleging they baited or lured the thieves.
“They decided to use a scare tactic in effort (sic) to convince people to stop stealing from them but made the mistake of posting the video on social media,” the page states.
Tulare County District Attorney’s Office spokesman Stuart Anderson said this week that the case is under review and no formal charges have yet been filed.
Grillot’s assignment with Strike Fighter Squadron 2 is her first duty station out of training, according to her service record.
Originally from Florida, Grillot enlisted in February.
Geoff is the managing editor of Military Times, but he still loves writing stories. He covered Iraq and Afghanistan extensively and was a reporter at the Chicago Tribune. He welcomes any and all kinds of tips at geoffz@militarytimes.com.
