Responding to disturbance near DOE landfill, police allegedly find drugs, stolen gun in vehicle

Daniel Ray Price

Daniel Ray Price

  Note This story was updated at 11:50 a.m. Nov. 1. Oak Ridge police allegedly found marijuana, Xanax, drug paraphernalia, and a stolen pistol in a vehicle after responding to a report of a disturbance near the U.S. Department of Energy landfill on Bear Creek Road near the Y-12 National Security Complex on Sunday, May 14, court records said. Oak Ridge Police Department K-9 Officer Christopher Wallace said a search of the vehicle with the help of a drug-detecting canine officer found 18.4 ounces of marijuana, along with 97 Xanax (alprazolam) tablets; drug paraphernalia that included rolling papers, a grinder, digital scales, glass marijuana pipe, glass meth/crack cocaine pipe, and a snort straw; an SCCY Industries 9mm CPX2 semi automatic pistol; and a North American Arms (N.A.A.) .22LR mini revolver pistol that the Sevier County Sheriff’s Office had reported as stolen. Charged after the search was Daniel Ray Price, 35, of Coster Lane in Knoxville. Price said all the items belonged to him, Wallace said in affidavits filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge. [Read more…]

Authorities find active meth lab on Tusculum Drive; three arrested

Tusculum-Drive-Meth-Lab-Bust-March-30-2016-2

Authorities found what they described as an active methamphetamine laboratory in a home on Tusculum Drive on Wednesday, March 30, 2016. Pictured above are three members of the 7th District Crime Task Force dressed in hazmat suits and using oxygen as they prepare to enter the back of the home. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was updated at 5:15 p.m.

Authorities found what they described as an active methamphetamine laboratory on Tusculum Drive on Wednesday, and three people were arrested, including two people who live at the home.

The Seventh District Crime Task Force determined the home was an active meth lab at about 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Director Russell Barker said. The alleged lab was inside a home at 197 Tusculum Drive, Apartment C.

Three members of the Crime Task Force first checked the home wearing hazardous materials suits and breathing oxygen. After they determined it was an active meth lab, they went back in to remove what Barker described as meth lab materials and trash left from cooking meth. Officers also found finished product, Barker said, although he didn’t have information on how much.

Officers collected the meth lab-related materials in front of the home on a blue tarp. Wearing gloves, boots, and sometimes using breathing masks with eye shields, they also placed some items in plastic five-gallon buckets.

A man and woman who live at the house were decontaminated and taken to jail in white Tyvek suits at about 7:45 p.m. Wednesday. Barker said one of them had been inside the home but was coming out when officers arrived. [Read more…]

Man facing charges after crashing VW into Dunkin’ Donuts

VW-Beetle-Dunkin-Donuts-Feb-3-2016

A man is facing charges after crashing a Volkswagen Beetle into the side of Dunkin’ Donuts in Oak Ridge on Wednesday, authorities said. Pictured above are members of the Oak Ridge Fire Department and Oak Ridge Community Development. The drive-through window is to the left of the VW. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 6 p.m. Feb. 4.

A man is facing charges after crashing a Volkswagen Beetle into the side of Dunkin’ Donuts in Oak Ridge on Wednesday afternoon, authorities said.

Officers charged the man, Matthew Ketron, 32, of Knoxville, with two counts of reckless endangerment and driving under the influence, the Oak Ridge Police Department said.

The crash was reported at about 2:50 p.m. Wednesday. At least five people were inside Dunkin’ Donuts at the time, the ORPD said. Two customers were treated for injuries and released at the scene. Officers said the building, which is in a small shopping center on Oak Ridge Turnpike, was heavily damaged.

The yellow 2000 Volkswagen Beetle crashed into a side wall, between the drive-through window and the glass at the front of Dunkin’ Donuts. But it’s not clear whether the driver had stopped at the drive-through. [Read more…]

Man, 27, accused of attacking, robbing grandfather, 81

Trenton-Johnson

Trenton Johnson

The day after he was found unresponsive in a bathroom, with a syringe on the floor and suspected heroin in his jacket pocket, a 27-year-old Oak Ridge man allegedly attacked his 81-year-old grandfather, pushed him down, and stole his wallet, authorities said.

Trenton Johnson of Briarwood Drive was found on his back and unresponsive on a bathroom floor, lying between a toilet and bathtub, at the Briarwood Drive home on Saturday, December 19, Oak Ridge Police Department Officer Kevin M. Merritt said.

A syringe was on the floor next to Johnson, Merritt said. On the edge of the bathtub, there was a pack of cigarettes, lighter, and metal spoon, the officer said. [Read more…]

Man injured in truck fire; others OK as fuel ignites

Pickup-Truck-Fire-Briarcliff-Nov-27-2015

The driver of a pickup truck that caught on fire on Friday afternoon, Nov. 27, 2015, was taken to the hospital with minor burns, and emergency workers were not injured when fuel vapors ignited after the fire was first extinguished, authorities said. Pictured above are ORFD Battalion Chief Eric Rackard, left, and ORPD Officer Christopher Wallace. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The driver of a pickup truck that caught on fire Friday afternoon was taken to the hospital with minor burns, and emergency workers were not injured when fuel vapors ignited after the fire was first extinguished, authorities said.

The 62-year-old man tried to open the hood of the blue Ford Ranger and put out the fire with a fire extinguisher, said Oak Ridge Fire Department Battalion Chief Eric Rackard. The man, who was not identified, received minor burns on both hands.

The cause of the fire at Diversicare of Oak Ridge, on Elmhurst Drive near Hank’s Market on Emory Valley Road, was unknown.

But a fuel line on the engine ruptured, and gasoline vapors ignited while emergency workers tried to plug the line.

“Anytime you see that, you worry,” Rackard said. [Read more…]

Thirteen people, eight vehicles involved in two crashes on Edgemoor Road

Edgemoor Road Bridge Crash

One driver was possibly injured and cited for a failure to use due care after this three-vehicle crash on Edgemoor Road on Friday afternoon left one vehicle partially stuck on the concrete rail of the bridge over the Clinch River. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Thirteen people in eight vehicles were involved in two of the three crashes reported on Edgemoor Road on Thursday and Friday last week.

But only one person had possible injuries in those two crashes, according to Oak Ridge Police Department reports.

The first crash, a five-vehicle wreck, was reported on Edgemoor Road about two-tenths of a mile west of Lakeview Circle at about 5:39 p.m. Thursday, August 13. None of the 10 occupants of the five vehicles was injured, according to reports.

ORPD Officer Shane Tilley reported that a 1991 Chevrolet pickup driven west on Edgemoor Road, also known as State Route 170, by Jeremy P. Bentley, 46, of Knoxville, was unable to stop when traffic stopped in front of him.

Bentley then struck the rear of a 2014 Dodge pickup driven by Charles E. Dishman, 35, of Clinton, which in turn hit the rear of a 2012 Hyundai sedan driven by William M. Cunningham of Maryville. Cunningham’s sedan then hit the rear of a 2008 Nissan Altima driven by Chong Kim, 74, of Knoxville, which hit the rear of a 2009 Nissan Altima driven by Deena A. Chase, 48, of Knoxville. [Read more…]

Police rescue unconscious driver from burning vehicle

Irene Lane Crash

Oak Ridge police officers rescued an unconscious driver from this burning vehicle on Friday night. (Photo courtesy of Oak Ridge Police Department)

Oak Ridge police officers rescued an unconscious driver from a burning vehicle that went down an embankment on Irene Lane on Friday night, authorities said.

The unnamed driver, a 26-year-old Oak Ridge resident, was taken by ambulance to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville after the 11:30 p.m. crash, which shut down the northbound lanes of North Illinois Avenue, authorities said.

Eight officers responded, and they used fire extinguishers to fight the flames and keep police from getting burned, an Oak Ridge Police Department statement said. The Oak Ridge Fire Department also responded.

[Read more…]

Man taken to hospital with facial cuts after head-on collision

Edgemoor Road Crash

A Harriman man driving this Kia Optima was taken to a hospital after a head-on, two-vehicle collision on Saturday morning on Edgemoor Road near Solway Park. (Photos by Tom Scott)

A Harriman man was taken to the hospital with cuts on his face and forehead after a head-on collision between two vehicles on Edgemoor Road Saturday morning.

Sergio Apolonio Cruz, 25, was taken by ambulance to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville, an Oak Ridge Police Department crash report said.

The other driver, Mark Allen Mays, 33, of Knoxville, was not injured, the report said.

[Read more…]