North Braddock mayor-elect arrested, charged in connection with beating women with bat

NORTH BRADDOCK, Pa. — The mayor-elect of North Braddock, Cletus Lee, was arrested and will be charged with aggravated assault.

Lee is accused of beating two women with a baseball bat after they pepper-sprayed him, according to North Braddock police.

The confrontation was over a domestic dispute and the victims were in the hospital, police said.

Outside of the police station, Lee’s cousin, Lee Davis, and North Braddock council member, Lisa Franklin-Robinson, said the whole story hasn’t come out yet.

“People are innocent until proven guilty and there’s always facts that are missing in stories. I’m not going to jump to conclusions but know Cletus, the person that I know, I could not see him doing that without good reason,” Franklin-Robinson said.

“I just heard he was trying to help someone and it backfired and sometimes that happens,” Davis said. “I just know that it makes sense for him to step in and help somebody.”

Duprene Johnson claimed that she’s the woman at the center of it all and told Channel 11 that while she was speaking with Lee outside of his home, she was actually there visiting his next-door neighbor.

“I said, ‘I don’t want to fight you.’ She swung. I ducked the first one. I grabbed her hand from hitting me,” Johnson said. “Hit me right in my ear. Now I have hearing loss in my ear.”

Court documents indicated Lee’s ex-girlfriend then tried to pepper-spray him and smash a mirror on his car after Lee tried to throw the woman’s phone.

Police said that Lee then went into his home and returned with a metal bat. Then he used the bat to hit his ex and another woman who was with her in the legs.

Johnson told Channel 11 that ultimately, she was caught in the middle of what she calls a misunderstanding and a frightening ordeal.

“I think he is a really outstanding person. He really defended me,” said Johnson. “He got in the middle of it because he was protecting me.”

Lee was charged with two counts each of aggravated assault, simple assault and harassment.

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