Oak Ridge Today

ORPD in second day of Operation Safe Start, helping to keep schools safe

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Operation Safe Start at Oak Ridge Schools

Oak Ridge Police Chief Jim Akagi is pictured with a mother and daughter at Woodland Elementary School on Tuesday, August 5, 2015, during Operation Safe Start. (Photo by Oak Ridge Police Department) 

 

Oak Ridge students returned to school on Monday, August 3, and the Oak Ridge Police Department kicked off Operation Safe Start, an effort to keep schools zones safe during arrival and dismissal.

“It’s back to school time and ORPD reminds the community that when it comes to the safety of our youth, there can be no margin for error,” Oak Ridge Police Chief Jim Akagi said. “Motorists are urged to drive safely in all school zones, especially during arrival and dismissal times. The beginning of the school year is a time when there is a greater risk of transportation-related injuries to children.”

Operation Safe Start continued on Tuesday morning. Akagi said it includes participation from every division of the Police Department. [Read more…]

Warrants: Robbery suspect allegedly hit worker on head with gun before taking cash

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Kianna D. Hill

Kianna D. Hill

The two Georgia residents accused of robbing a check cashing store in Oak Ridge in June allegedly ordered employees to the rear of the store at gunpoint and demanded that a male manager open the safe, authorities said. When the manager didn’t move fast enough, authorities said, the male suspect allegedly hit the employee on the head several times with the handgun while the female suspect yelled at the male suspect, “Just shoot him!”

One of the two suspects, Kianna Denise Hill, 21, of East Point, Georgia, was brought to the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton on Friday. She faces three counts of aggravated robbery and one count of especially aggravated kidnapping.

The other suspect is Arvenzio Clyde Miles, 22, of Riverdale, Georgia. He apparently hasn’t been extradited yet; he is not listed as an inmate at the Anderson County jail.

Hill and Miles are accused in an armed robbery at Check Into Cash at 361 South Illinois Avenue at about 3:15 p.m. Friday, June 26. Authorities said the store was allegedly robbed by two suspects armed with handguns. Hill and Miles were arrested in East Point, Georgia, southwest of Atlanta, on Wednesday, July 8. [Read more…]

Edgemoor Road closed, Lifestar lands as rescuers work to save woman

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Oak Ridge Police Department Logo

Edgemoor Road was briefly closed and a University of Tennessee Lifestar medical helicopter landed at a boat launch after police and fire units responded to a reported shooting at Centennial Village Apartments in east Oak Ridge on Friday evening.

It wasn’t immediately clear to emergency workers whether the shooting was self-inflicted or whether there was a shooter involved, and they didn’t have information on where the weapon was located. But they were able to determine that the area was clear, and patrol officers concluded that it was an attempted suicide, Oak Ridge Police Chief Jim Akagi said Saturday.

Police recovered a firearm at the scene, the City of Oak Ridge said in a press release on Monday.

The shooting was reported around 7:42 p.m. Friday behind a building on Waterview Drive, and a Lifestar helicopter landed at a boat launch across from the apartment complex a little after 8 p.m. [Read more…]

After several hours of negotiating, man threatening suicide gives up gun

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Crisis Negotiations on Robertsville Road

A man who had threatened to commit suicide with a gun at a home on Robertsville Road gave up his gun after several hours of negotiations on Thursday night, authorities said. (Photo by Oak Ridge Police Department)

 

A man who had threatened to commit suicide with a gun at a home on Robertsville Road gave up his weapon after several hours of negotiations on Thursday night, authorities said.

The Oak Ridge Police Department received the call at about 8:42 p.m. Thursday, a press release said.

“As tactical officers stood by, an ORPD crisis negotiator spent several hours persuading him to come outside to speak with officers,” the release said. “When the man came outside, he insisted he had no intention of harming himself, and voluntarily handed a firearm over to them for safekeeping. After officers verified his wellbeing, he was allowed to return to his home.”

More information will be added as it becomes available.

Copyright 2015 Oak Ridge Today. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Two suspects arrested after shot fired at McKenzie Acres Apartments

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Elijah McDowell

Elijah McDowell

Two people were arrested after a gunshot was fired at the McKenzie Acres apartment complex on Utica Circle on Monday, authorities said.

The Oak Ridge Police Department responded to a report of someone discharging a firearm at McKenzie Acres at about 5:42 p.m. Monday, July 27, a press release said.

“Officers learned that at least one shot had been fired,” the release said.

It said police were able to locate two people who were allegedly involved in the incident a short time later. [Read more…]

July 4 victim says driver hit two vehicles, stopped twice, continued backing—then ‘floored it’

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Michael Eldridge Testimony

Victim Michael Eldridge testifies in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge on Tuesday, July 28, 2015. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 10:27 p.m.

One of the victims in the July 4 parking lot crash in Oak Ridge said the driver charged with homicide and aggravated assault hit a Thunderbird, stopped, slowly continued backing, hit a van, stopped, and then slowly continued backing—and then he “floored it.”

“Then, he came toward us,” victim Michael Eldridge testified during a bond hearing in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge on Tuesday.

The bond hearing was for Lee Cromwell, the 65-year-old driver accused of causing the fatal crash. Cromwell has been charged with homicide and aggravated assault, among other charges.

The crash killed James Robinson, 37, of Knoxville, who was watching fireworks with his wife and two daughters, and it injured 11 other people.  [Read more…]

Bond reduced for Cromwell, driver in fatal parking lot crash

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Derek Setzer and Lee Cromwell

Lee Cromwell, 65, of Oak Ridge, right, is escorted through Anderson County General Sessions Court on Tuesday by Anderson County Sheriff’s Department Deputy Derek Setzer. Cromwell has been charged with homicide and aggravated assault, among other charges, after a fatal parking lot crash after July 4 fireworks in Oak Ridge. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 10:30 a.m. July 30.

Bond was reduced to $100,000 on Tuesday for an Oak Ridge man accused of killing one person and injuring 11 people in a parking lot crash after July 4 fireworks.

There were concerns about whether Lee Cromwell, 65, considers himself a “sovereign citizen” and denies governmental authority, and Anderson County General Sessions Court Judge Roger Miller reported that Cromwell was somewhat defiant at his arraignment.

Still, Miller lowered bond for Cromwell from about $205,500 to $100,000, more than cutting it in half.

Cromwell was released Tuesday evening. He is prohibited from contacting the victims. [Read more…]

Missing person found dead in hospital parking lot

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Oak Ridge Police Department Logo

A person that had been reported missing was found dead in the parking lot at Methodist Medical Center on Sunday, authorities said.

The person, who has not been publicly identified, was reported missing to the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department. The ACSD, which had information that the missing person was in the area of MMC, called the Oak Ridge Police Department and asked that officers check the area for the person’s vehicle, a black Dodge Charger, a City of Oak Ridge press release said.

The ORPD responded to MMC at about 1:39 p.m. Sunday. [Read more…]

ORPD: No evidence found of shots fired at Kareday Terrace

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The Oak Ridge Police Department responded to a report of shots fired at apartments on Wilberforce Avenue on Wednesday, but officers found no evidence that shots had been fired, authorities said.

The incident occurred at about 4:40 p.m. Wednesday at Building A of the Kareday Terrace Apartments at 99 Wilberforce Avenue, a City of Oak Ridge press release said.

“Multiple officers arrived on scene within two minutes of being dispatched and diverted traffic away from the scene,” the press release said. “Additional officers arrived and established a perimeter around Building A, while also contacting the person who called the Dispatch Center earlier and claimed to be a victim of the shooting.” [Read more…]

Driver of pickup truck that killed one, injured nine charged with homicide

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Lee Cromwell

Lee Cromwell

The driver of the Dodge Ram pickup truck that backed through the parking lot at Midtown Community Center after July 4 fireworks, killing one and injuring nine, has been charged with homicide, aggravated assault, and reckless endangerment, authorities said.

Lee Cromwell, 65, was arrested at 11:40 a.m. Wednesday at the Oak Ridge Police Department without incident by patrol officers, authorities said.

Cromwell’s truck allegedly hit James Robinson, 37, of Knoxville, killing him, the ORPD said after the crash.

Cromwell has been charged with one count of vehicular homicide, one count of criminally negligent homicide, one count of reckless homicide, 12 counts of aggravated assault, one count of reckless endangerment, and one count of driving with a license that is suspended or revoked, Oak Ridge Police Chief Jim Akagi said. [Read more…]

Three taken to hospital after two-vehicle crash on Turnpike

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Oak Ridge Turnpike Crash on Science.Gov Way on July 19, 2015

Three people were taken to the hospital after a two-vehicle crash on Oak Ridge Turnpike at Athens Road on Sunday afternoon, July 19, 2015, authorities said.

 

Three people were taken to the hospital after a two-vehicle crash on Oak Ridge Turnpike at Athens Road on Sunday afternoon, authorities said.

Two of the three were taken to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville and the other was taken to Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge, authorities said.

The crash, which briefly closed the eastbound lanes of the Turnpike, was reported in east Oak Ridge at about 4:09 p.m. Sunday. It occurred on the stretch of the Turnpike that runs between Milt Dickens Park on the north side of the four-lane roadway and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Scientific and Technical Information on the south. [Read more…]

Deputy fire chief Waldo accepts job as fire chief in Bozeman, Mont.

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Josh Waldo at Graceland Fire April 2014

Oak Ridge Fire Department Deputy Chief Josh Waldo fights a fire at 120 Graceland on April 3, 2014. (Photo by Tom Scott)

 

Josh Waldo, deputy chief of the Oak Ridge Fire Department, has accepted a job as chief of the Bozeman Fire Department in Montana.

Waldo’s first day on the new job will be August 24. His last day in Oak Ridge hasn’t been determined, but it could be in mid-August.

Bozeman has about 40,000 people, which is a little larger than Oak Ridge, but its fire department is smaller. The Bozeman Fire Department has three fire stations and roughly 50 personnel, including chiefs and inspectors, Waldo said Tuesday. That compares to four fire stations and about 70 personnel in Oak Ridge.

Waldo, 34, has been deputy fire chief in Oak Ridge for about 16 months. He was promoted from assistant chief to deputy chief in March 2014. He was promoted to assistant chief about 2.5 years earlier, in November 2011. [Read more…]