Oak Ridge Today

One adult, teenage driver, two children injured in crash near Norris

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A 17-year-old driver was flown to a hospital by a medical helicopter after a two-vehicle crash near Norris on Wednesday morning, and an adult driver and two young children were taken to a hospital with serious and minor injuries, authorities said.

The head-on collision was reported at about 7:35 a.m. on State Route 61 at Bethel Road just east of Interstate 75, according to the Tennessee Highway Patrol.

The 17-year-old was driving west on SR 61 in a 1999 Mazda 4000 when the teenager crossed the center line around Bethel Road, the THP said. [Read more…]

THP: Pedestrian walked in front of vehicle in fatal crash

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The 75-year-old man killed in a vehicle-pedestrian crash in Marlow on Wednesday morning walked in front of a Ford truck for reasons that aren’t clear, authorities said.

The fatal crash was reported at 10 a.m. Wednesday on Oliver Springs Highway (State Route 61) at Old Batley Road.

The pedestrian has been identified as Curtis Byrge, 75. He has a Clinton mailing address.

A Tennessee Highway Patrol report said Byrge was walking west on Oliver Springs Highway when, for an unknown reason, he turned to walk south across the highway. [Read more…]

Two crashes reported; one fatal, involved pedestrian

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A fatal crash involving a pedestrian was reported in Marlow on Wednesday morning, and a a serious crash that required three ambulances and a medical helicopter was reported near Interstate 75, authorities said.

The first crash was on Andersonville Highway at Bethel Road just east of Interstate 75 around 7:30 a.m. Wednesday, said Mark Lucas, Anderson County Sheriff’s Department chief deputy.

Three ambulances were needed, Lucas said. A UT Lifestar medical helicopter responded, and it flew one person to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville, Lucas said. Anderson County EMS drove two injured people to UT Medical Center as well. There were serious injuries, Lucas said.

The second crash, the fatal crash, was reported a few hours later, at about 10 a.m. Wednesday on Oliver Springs Highway at Old Batley Road. In that crash, a pedestrian was hit by a vehicle, Lucas said. [Read more…]

DA: Deadly force authorized, no criminal charges in fatal officer-involved shooting

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Roger Raymond York Jr.

Roger Raymond York Jr.

 

A Clinton Police Department officer was authorized to use deadly force against an armed, wanted man who did not comply with officers and fired a shot from a semi-automatic pistol during a struggle with police on November 8, and there will be no criminal charges filed against the three officers involved in the fatal shooting, Anderson County District Attorney General Dave Clark said Monday.

Clark worked with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to investigate the officer-involved shooting of Roger Raymond York Jr., 32, who had a Clinton address, according to Anderson County jail records.

York died after he fired a weapon at Clinton Police Department officers on East Drive in Clinton on Wednesday night, November 8, according to earlier information from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. One of the officers fired back, hitting York, who died, according to that information. [Read more…]

Anderson County Deputy Kim Lay named SRO of the Year

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Anderson County Sheriff's Department Deputy Kim Lay has been named School Resource Officer of the Year for Anderson County Schools by The Education Foundation of Clinton City and Anderson County Schools. (Submitted photo)

Anderson County Sheriff’s Department Deputy Kim Lay has been named School Resource Officer of the Year for Anderson County Schools by The Education Foundation of Clinton City and Anderson County Schools. (Submitted photo)

 

Anderson County Sheriff’s Department Deputy Kim Lay has been named School Resource Officer of the Year for Anderson County Schools by The Education Foundation of Clinton City and Anderson County Schools.

Lay is a 16-year law enforcement veteran, and she has served as a school resource officer, or SRO, for the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department for the last eight years.

“She is truly a dedicated, experienced law enforcement professional,” a press release said. [Read more…]

Driver seriously injured in crash with train

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A 22-year-old driver was seriously injured in a crash with a train in Anderson County on Saturday, authorities said.

The driver has been identified as Benjamin Sharp. After the crash, he was taken by an Anderson County EMS ambulance to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville with what were reported to be life-threatening injuries. Information on his current condition wasn’t immediately available Monday afternoon.

The crash was reported at about 5:30 p.m. Saturday on Patterson Lane off Old Lake City Highway.

The Tennessee Highway Patrol said Sharp was trying to cross the railroad tracks to a home off Old Lake City Highway when the 2009 Jeep Commander he was driving was hit by the train. [Read more…]

Andersonville man dies after jumping into pond while fleeing from deputies

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Ron Walter Austin

Ron Walter Austin

 

An Andersonville man died after jumping into a pond in Claxton while fleeing from Anderson County Sheriff’s Department deputies on Thursday night, authorities said.

The man has been identified as Ron Walter Austin, 41.

The chase started at about 11:45 p.m. Thursday when Anderson County Sheriff’s Department narcotics investigators observed what was believed to be a drug transaction between people in two vehicles in a business parking lot near North Charles G. Seivers Boulevard in Clinton, Chief Deputy Mark Lucas said Friday night.

Deputies attempted to stop both vehicles as they left the parking lot, Lucas said. One vehicle did stop, but the other fled from North Charles G. Seivers Boulevard onto Interstate 75, where deputies saw the driver throw out an article out of the car window, Lucas said. [Read more…]

Jail death probed by TBI

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Information from WYSH Radio

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is investigating the death of an inmate at the Anderson County Detention Facility that occurred in March.

Preliminary investigations have not turned up anything suspicious, according to the TBI, but their investigation is ongoing.

Patricia Jones, 53, of Oliver Springs was booked into the jail on March 17 on charges of forgery and theft filed by the Oliver Springs Police Department. Jones was found dead inside her cell the following day, March 18, by a jailer who checked on her after noticing that she had stopped snoring, and found her unresponsive. [Read more…]

Former probation officer indicted in TBI rape investigation

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Bryant Thomas

Bryant Thomas

 

An investigation by special agents with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has led to the indictment of a former probation officer on a rape charge, authorities said Monday.

TBI special agents began investigating allegations of sexual misconduct against Bryant L. Thomas, 30, in February 2017 at the request of Seventh District Attorney General Dave Clark in Anderson County, a press release said.

At that time, Thomas was employed as a probation parole officer with the Tennessee Department of Correction, the press release said. [Read more…]

Man dies in Clinton Highway crash

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An 86-year-old man died in a two-vehicle crash on Clinton Highway late Tuesday afternoon, authorities said.

Fred Lay, who has a Clinton address, was driving east on Bull Run Road in Claxton in a 2005 Mercury Sable car when he turned onto southbound US Highway 25W (Clinton Highway), the Tennessee Highway Patrol said in a report. His vehicle turned into the path of a 2005 Chevrolet Trailblazer sport utility vehicle driven south in the inside lane of Clinton Highway by Marissa N. McCormick, 27, of Powell, and the two vehicles collided, the report said.

Southbound Clinton Highway heads toward Knoxville.

Lay died due to the crash, which was reported at about 4:56 p.m. Tuesday, the THP said. McCormick was not injured. [Read more…]

Anderson County residents among 44 indicted in meth distribution conspiracy

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A group of Anderson County residents was part of an alleged methamphetamine distribution ring that involved 44 people and a conspiracy to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine in East Tennessee and elsewhere, federal officials said Monday.

A 30-count indictment was returned against the 44 people by a federal grand jury in Greeneville in East Tennessee on January 9. Among those indicted were nine residents of Clinton, Oliver Springs, Powell, and Rocky Top, according to a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Eastern District of Tennessee on Monday. There were also four Knoxville residents indicted and a dozen in Bristol and Kingsport in upper East Tennessee, among other defendants in Tennessee, Georgia, and Virginia.

Anderson County Sheriff’s Department, Clinton Police Department, Oak Ridge Police Department, Oliver Springs Police Department, and Seventh Judicial District Crime Task Force in Anderson County were among the agencies that helped with the investigation, the press release said.

Here are the people that were indicted in the alleged methamphetamine distribution conspiracy: [Read more…]

Woman arrested for probation violation after fatal creek crash

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Rebecca L. Vanasse

Rebecca L. Vanasse

 

An Oak Ridge woman was arrested on a probation violation charge after a fatal crash in Poplar Creek in Roane County on Tuesday, authorities said.

Rebecca L. Vanasse, 26, of North Purdue Avenue, was arrested by the Oak Ridge Police Department on the violation of probation charge on Tuesday, according to Anderson County court and jail records. A hold has also been placed on Vanasse for Rhea County, and she remained jailed at the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton on Thursday morning, according to those records.

Anderson County Sheriff’s Department Chief Deputy Mark Lucas confirmed that Vanasse is the same woman who has been identified as the driver in the fatal creek crash on Poplar Creek Road on Tuesday. She was arrested by ORPD after she was treated and released from the emergency room, Lucas said.

“We had a probation violation warrant and Rhea County had a warrant as well,” he said. [Read more…]