Oak Ridge Today

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…]

Police: Remains of suspected meth lab found during search of home

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Arthur Wilson Jr.

Arthur Wilson Jr.

Julia Wilson

Julia Wilson

The remains of a suspected methamphetamine laboratory were found during a search of a home on West Wadsworth Circle on Wednesday, authorities said.

Items found in a trash can in the basement of the home included coffee filters, a Coleman brand camp fuel can, lithium batteries that had been cut open, and lithium strips that appeared to have been chemically reacted, Oak Ridge Police Department Officer John Thomas said in arrest warrants. He said other items included a sports drink bottle with a two-part liquid, a soda bottle with a white powdery substance and holes that appeared to have been burned through the bottle from a chemical reaction inside, and two empty boxes of Claritin-D medicine that originally each contained 2.4 grams of pseudoephedrine.

The two defendants, Arthur Wilson Jr., 50, and Julia Wilson, 49, are on probation for convictions for manufacturing methamphetamine in Morgan County, the warrants said. The two are under the supervision of the Tennessee Department of Correction, and one of the conditions of probation is that the home can be searched, Thomas said. [Read more…]

Man accused of robbing store with large knife, warrant says

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Yorlin Alverez Castillo

Yorlin Alverez Castillo

An Oak Ridge man remained jailed on Friday on a charge that he robbed the Tienda Nony Marketplace on Bus Terminal Road with a large knife on Monday afternoon, authorities said.

Yorlin Alverez Castillo, 23, is accused of robbing the store at about 1:06 p.m. Monday, according to an arrest warrant filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court.

A store employee told police that she had her 11-year-old son at work with her at the time, and the boy was behind the counter with her. Castillo allegedly came in the front door armed with a large knife, a deadly weapon, “placing the victims in fear,” Oak Ridge Police Department Detective William Weaver wrote in the warrant.

The employee told Weaver that Castillo’s face was covered with a bandana, and he wore a gray sweatshirt and sweat pants.

“He went up to the counter and stated, ‘It’s a robbery,'” the warrant said. “The victim stated, ‘Yorlin, don’t do this, my son is here.'” [Read more…]

Police: Man riding dirt bike reported as stolen drops it in front of patrol car, flees

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Seth Davis

Seth Davis

An Oak Ridge man riding a dirt bike reported to be stolen from Staples lost control of the motorcycle and dropped it in front of a police patrol car before fleeing Thursday evening, authorities said.

Oak Ridge Police Department Officer Sherrill Selby observed two dirt bikes on South Benedict Avenue at about 7:45 p.m. Thursday, and they were “riding wheelies at a high rate of speed,” according to warrants filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court.

In the warrants, Officer Scott Carroll said the defendant, Seth Montez Davis, 19, rode toward him. When Davis saw him, Carroll said, “he locked up the brakes and slid into my lane of traffic.”

After Davis dropped the bike, he ran behind a home on South Benedict, Carroll said. The officer said he chased Davis through a field and back up to South Benedict, where he was caught. [Read more…]

AC woman faces DUI, other charges after allegedly hitting parked car, metal rail

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Michelle E. Slaughter

Michelle E. Slaughter

An Anderson County woman accused of striking a parked car on East Pawley Lane and a metal hand rail on Outer Drive in Oak Ridge on Wednesday now faces several charges, including driving under the influence.

Michelle E. Slaughter, 27, of Dutch Valley Road, told Oak Ridge Police Department Officer Ben Higgins that she had three shots of vodka and one beer at a friend’s house, according to warrants filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court. Slaughter said she doesn’t normally drink, and she had not eaten anything all day.

In the warrants, Higgins said ORPD Officer Ray Steakley was helping Slaughter while she walked after a stop at Outer Drive and Key Springs Road, and she appeared to be uneasy on her feet and had trouble walking on her own. [Read more…]

Two charged with robbery after alleged attack, skateboard theft

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Nicholas Anthony Turnbill

Nicholas Anthony Turnbill

Two East Tennessee men have been charged with robbery after allegedly attacking a boy riding a skateboard in a parking lot at Central Baptist Church in Oak Ridge on Sunday and stealing his skateboard.

Nicholas A. Turnbill, 19, of Harriman, allegedly came up behind the victim and hit him on the back of the head with a closed fist and “turned back around, kicking him in the head while the victim was on the ground,” according to a a warrant filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court.

“The defendant and his accomplice used violence and attacked the victim, committing theft by taking the defendant’s skateboard,” Oak Ridge Police Department Officer Thomas Bolling wrote. [Read more…]

Four charged with aggravated robbery in alleged plot to steal rent money

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Raymond R. Gray

Raymond R. Gray

Four young Oak Ridge adults have been charged with aggravated robbery and criminal conspiracy in an alleged plot to rob a woman for rent money, authorities said.

The alleged armed robbery occurred on Highland Avenue at about midnight April 1, Oak Ridge Police Department Officer Ben Higgins said in warrants filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court.

The victim said three men who had their faces covered had robbed her at gunpoint and fled in a black Chevy sedan, the warrants said. The victim followed them north on Highland Avenue. [Read more…]

Man charged with attempted first-degree murder in March 23 shooting

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Asante Devon Harris

Asante Devon Harris

Note: This story was last updated at 11:42 a.m.

A 23-year-old Oak Ridge man has been charged with attempted first-degree murder for an alleged shooting in the Scarboro neighborhood on March 23.

Asante Devon Harris allegedly used a handgun to shoot at his ex-girlfriend on South Dillard Avenue at about 9:45 a.m. Monday, March 23, according to an arrest warrant filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court.

The warrant said the ex-girlfriend was not hit, and the Oak Ridge Police Department said last week that no injuries were reported. [Read more…]

Updated: Driver charged with DUI in four-car crash that damaged home

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Robertsville Road Car and House Crash

No one was injured in a crash involving four vehicles and a house on Robertsville Road on Thursday night.

 

Note: This story was last updated at 4:20 p.m.

The driver of a car that allegedly caused a four-vehicle crash and damaged a home on Robertsville Road has been charged with driving under the influence, authorities said.

Officers located Brandon Kyle Baez, 18, of Oak Ridge, after he walked away from the crash at 184 Robertsville Road and tried to hide in a wooded area, Oak Ridge Police Department Officer Ben Higgins said in a warrant.

The crash occurred at about 10:40 p.m. Thursday just east of North Illinois Avenue. An SUV-type vehicle driven by Baez allegedly left the road, drove through the front yard of one home on Robertsville Road, crashed into a Ford four-door sedan parked in the driveway, and pushed it about three or four car lengths into a neighbor’s front yard—and reportedly caused a collision with two cars parked in the neighbor’s driveway (the home of Mike and Judy Coen).

[Read more…]

Report: Man fires gun into ground during parking dispute

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Justin Kane Hornung

Justin Kane Hornung

An Oak Ridge man who allegedly fired a gun into the ground during a parking disturbance on Tucker Road on January 18 has been charged with two counts of aggravated assault.

Justin Kane Hornung, 37, told Oak Ridge Police Department Officer Christopher W. Wallace that he did not have space to park his vehicle on Tucker Road when he came home because guests of a neighbor had filled the on-street parking spaces, according to warrants filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court.

A discussion between Hornung and his neighbor about the parking situation reportedly escalated into a disturbance, and the victim allegedly told Hornung he was going to “kick his (expletive)” and yelled other obscenities, according to the warrants. [Read more…]

Warrants: Man armed with knife tried to kidnap two children

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Justin Len Williams

Justin Len Williams

An Oak Ridge man allegedly broke into a home this month, assaulted the mother of his children, threw a five-inch kitchen knife at a man at the home, and tried to kidnap two kids, authorities said.

Justin L. Williams, 23, is accused of going upstairs at the Knoll Lane home armed with a five-inch kitchen knife and confronting the woman in the hall, shoving her against a door and to the floor, and assaulting her again outside while taking her car keys to get child seats, according to arrest warrants filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court.

The woman, who had a laceration to her right big toe, reportedly called 911 on her cell phone during the assault at about 4:18 a.m. January 14, the warrants said. [Read more…]