Oak Ridge Today

Second homicide charge added, preliminary hearing set in crash that killed school employee

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Vicki G. Gilmore, 62, of Oak Ridge, is facing three more felony charges, including a second vehicular homicide charge, in the death of a 37-year-old Harriman mother and Roane County Schools employee in a fatal three-vehicle crash at Oak Ridge Turnpike and Jefferson Avenue on May 6, 2016. A preliminary hearing for Gilmore, who is pictured above on Thursday, Sept. 29, has been set for 10 a.m. Oct. 21 in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

An Oak Ridge woman is facing three more felony charges, including a second vehicular homicide charge, in the death of a 37-year-old Harriman mother and Roane County Schools employee after a three-vehicle crash at Oak Ridge Turnpike and Jefferson Avenue in May.

The new charges, filed against Vicki G. Gilmore, 62, on September 29, also include aggravated assault and reckless endangerment. The new homicide charge is vehicular homicide (recklessness).

The original charges filed against Gilmore, who is suspected of using a narcotic pain-reliever, were vehicular homicide, driving under the influence, reckless driving, failure to maintain a single lane, leaving the scene of an accident, violation of the implied consent law, and duty upon striking a fixture. The original charges were filed in May.

A preliminary hearing has been set for 10 a.m. October 21 in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge. During a preliminary hearing, a judge can hear from victims, witnesses, and investigators, and determine whether charges should be bound over, or sent to a grand jury for its consideration. An indictment by a grand jury bumps a case from general sessions court to criminal court. [Read more…]

Motorcycle ride Saturday to help Wyrick, injured in August crash

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Brandon Wyrick

Brandon Wyrick (Photo courtesy James Brooks)

A motorcycle ride that starts in Oak Ridge on Saturday will help with medical expenses for Brandon Wyrick, a motorcyclist injured in an August collision with an Oak Ridge Electric Department utility truck.

The Ride for Brandon starts at Oak Ridge High School on Saturday and ends at Tennova North in Powell. Registration at ORHS begins at 11 a.m. Saturday, and “kickstands up” is at 1 p.m., said James Brooks, Brandon’s brother.

Wyrick was flown to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville after the August 14 crash at Oak Ridge Turnpike and Illinois Avenue. He was reported to be in critical condition after the crash and has had several surgeries.

Brooks said his brother, who graduated from Oak Ridge High School, is in better condition than he was, “but he’s still got a very long way to go.” Wyrick has since been transferred to Tennova North.

The motorcycle ride on Saturday will help offset the costs of medical treatment. All proceeds will be given to Brandon’s parents at the end of the ride, Brooks said. [Read more…]

Jefferson Middle School student confesses to making social media threats, ORPD says

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An 11-year-old student at Jefferson Middle School confessed to making potential threats of violence on Friday morning, authorities said.

The threats were made over social media and were against students who attend Jefferson Middle School, according to the Oak Ridge Police Department.

When it learned of the threats, the ORPD Support Services Unit, or SSU, was sent to Jefferson to protect the property while an investigation was started by ORPD’s Criminal Investigations Division, or CID, a press release said. SSU officers and CID detectives coordinated with Oak Ridge Schools staff to interview several students who may have had knowledge of the threats, the press release said. [Read more…]

Shots-fired call on Tuesday was due to blank cartridges, police say

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The Oak Ridge Police Department searched a home in east Oak Ridge after they responded to a shots-fired call and set up a perimeter around the house Tuesday afternoon, Sept. 20, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Police responding to a shots-fired call in east Oak Ridge on Tuesday determined that two blank cartridges had been fired inside a home, according to police records.

The shots-fired call was reported at 1:29 p.m. Tuesday. Multiple police units responded, including patrol and K-9 officers, detectives, and the Seventh Judicial District Crime Task Force truck.

Officers couldn’t make contact with the residents at 118 East Arrowwood Road, and they set up a perimeter and sent an entry team, Oak Ridge Police Chief Jim Akagi said. [Read more…]

New rope rescue system helps save two people in one week

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On Sept. 17, 2016, the Oak Ridge Fire Department was dispatched to help a woman with serious injuries who had fallen from a retaining wall in a back yard. First responders found the woman lying 60 feet down a slope in a wooded area. The rapid deployment of the rope system helped the fire crew and Oak Ridge police officers move the injured woman up the steep slope to the ambulance. (Photo by City of Oak Ridge)

 

In less than one week, firefighters have used new rope rescue equipment to save two lives in Oak Ridge.

The equipment was recently purchased for each Oak Ridge Fire Department engine, and crews just started training last month. The quick deployment 3-to-1 rope haul system is designed to move injured people up steep slopes or through confined spaces where it is difficult to lift or carry a person. In the last seven days, the department has used the new equipment twice.

On September 5, firefighters were dispatched to an unconscious person in an attic of a house. On arrival, the fire crew found a man lying in the 120 degree attic, disoriented and unable to move. The crew rigged the rapid deployment rope system and, in a matter of minutes, was able to move him through the roof trusses and down the attic access opening to the waiting ambulance crew. [Read more…]

Police search home, one detained after shots-fired call Tuesday afternoon

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The Oak Ridge Police Department searched a home in east Oak Ridge after they responded to a shots-fired call and set up a perimeter around the house Tuesday afternoon, Sept. 20, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The Oak Ridge Police Department searched a home in east Oak Ridge after they responded to a shots-fired call and set up a perimeter around a house Tuesday afternoon.

The call was reported at 1:29 p.m. Multiple police units responded, including patrol and K-9 officers, detectives, and the Seventh Judicial District Crime Task Force truck.

Officers couldn’t make contact with the residents at 118 East Arrowwood Road, and they set up a perimeter and sent an entry team, Oak Ridge Police Chief Jim Akagi said. [Read more…]

9/11 photos: ORFD, ORHS dedicate new flagpole in memory of victims of terrorist attacks

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We will always remember those who gave their lives to save others on September 11, 2001. (Photo and caption courtesy Martin McDonald at Oak Ridge High School memorial ceremony and flagpole dedication on Sunday, Sept. 11, 2016)

 

The Oak Ridge Fire Department and the Oak Ridge High School 9/11 WTC Committee unveiled a new flagpole on Sunday and dedicated it in memory of the victims of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Sunday was the 15th anniversary of the attacks, which killed 2,977 people in New York City; Washington, D.C.; and outside Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

Here are photos by Oak Ridge High School Principal Martin McDonald, shared here with his permission. [Read more…]

Preliminary hearing set for January in fatal car-motorcycle crash

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Rufus E. Shephard III and Motorcycle

Rufus E. Shephard III is pictured above riding a motorcycle. (Photo courtesy Annette Shephard)

 

A preliminary hearing has been set for January 2017 for a woman charged after a fatal car-motorcycle crash on North Illinois Avenue in January 2016, court officials said.

The preliminary hearing has been scheduled for 9 a.m. January 19, 2017, in Anderson County General Sessions Court Division II in Oak Ridge.

The defendant, Noelle Leigh Patty, 29, of Oak Ridge, has been charged with failure to yield the right-of-way, resulting in death; a violation of the law to obey traffic control devices; and a failure to provide proof of financial responsibility.

There was a status hearing for Patty on Thursday, although she did not have to appear. She was expected to enter a plea, waive the charges to a grand jury, or set a date for a preliminary hearing. [Read more…]

Pedestrian dies after being hit by car on Oak Ridge Turnpike

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The Oak Ridge Police Department investigated a crash between a car and pedestrian on Oak Ridge Turnpike on Wednesday morning, Sept. 7, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

An Oak Ridge man died after being hit by a car on Oak Ridge Turnpike on Wednesday morning, authorities said.

Dimitrios Agouridis, 82, of Oak Ridge was struck by a 2010 Jaguar XT sedan in the westbound lanes between New York Avenue and East Division Road at about 6:53 a.m. Wednesday, the Oak Ridge Police Department said.

The car was driven by James Pemberton of Clinton, who was not injured in the crash, the ORPD said. [Read more…]

Woman injured in Friday crash in stable condition at UT Medical Center

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Mindy Carter

Mindy Carter (Photo used with family’s permission)

 

The woman trapped and injured after a trailer carrying a loader crashed into the car she was driving in Oak Ridge on Friday was in stable condition at the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville on Tuesday, a spokesperson said.

Arminda “Mindy” Carter, 32, of Oak Ridge was flown to the UT Medical Center by a Lifestar helicopter after the Friday evening crash on Emory Valley Road at Carnegie Drive in east Oak Ridge.

Both legs were broken in the crash and she had broken ribs and right shoulder, as well as multiple lacerations and a torn quad, said Carter’s brother, Justin Pruitt.

She had a surgery on her left leg, which was broken above the ankle and below the knee, on Friday night, Pruitt said.

She was scheduled to have a surgery on a broken femur in her right leg on Tuesday, Pruitt said Monday evening. [Read more…]

Police: Trailer came loose from truck before crashing into car on Friday

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The crash between a car and trailer with a small loader on it on Emory Valley Road on Friday, Sept. 2, 2016, happened after the trailer came loose from a truck hitch and crossed into an oncoming lane, where it hit the car, authorities said. It took the Oak Ridge Fire Department and rescuers about 55 minutes to free the female driver pinned inside the car, and they used a tow truck to help lift the trailer and loader to take weight off the driver, Mindy Carter, 32, of Oak Ridge. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The crash between a car and trailer with a small loader on it on Emory Valley Road on Friday happened after the trailer came loose from a truck hitch and crossed into an oncoming lane, where it hit the car, authorities said.

The 1994 GMC truck was being driven east on Emory Valley Road at about 5:29 p.m. Friday by Gerald D. Cureton, 71, of Knoxville, when the two-vehicle crash occurred at Carnegie Drive, according to an Oak Ridge Police Department crash report.

The truck was towing a trailer with a small Case four-wheeled skid steer loader.

Headed west, in the opposite direction, was Arminda “Mindy” Carter, 32, of Oak Ridge. She was driving a 2010 Toyota Camry four-door sedan, the report said.

As the two vehicles approached the intersection, the trailer came free of the hitch used to secure it to the truck, according to the ORPD crash report. [Read more…]

Police investigate car-pedestrian crash on Turnpike

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The Oak Ridge Police Department investigated a crash between a car and pedestrian on Oak Ridge Turnpike on Wednesday morning, Sept. 7, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 10:05 a.m.

The Oak Ridge Police Department investigated a crash between a car and pedestrian on Oak Ridge Turnpike on Wednesday morning.

The collision was reported sometime around 7 a.m. in a westbound lane near Kentucky Fried Chicken in central Oak Ridge.

The pedestrian, who was not identified, was injured and taken to the hospital. His condition wasn’t immediately available. [Read more…]