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

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.

ORPD Officer Ray Steakley located the car at the intersection of State Route 61 and State Route 62, and he pulled over the car on Midway Road in Oliver Springs.

One of the defendants, Whitney T. Stewart, 21, of Oak Ridge, was driving, Higgins said. The other three co-defendants—Raymond R. Gray, 20; Christopher D. Ramsey, 20; and Tevin M. Springs, 19; all of Oak Ridge—were in the car, Higgins said.

He said Gray and Ramsey admitted, after being read their Miranda rights, to committing the robbery.

“I also learned that all four defendants conspired together to rob a separate male subject,” Higgins said in the warrants. “However, that subject was not located, so they chose to rob the victim to obtain rent money for Whitney Stewart.”

Gray, Ramsey, and Springs have all been charged with aggravated robbery, aggravated assault, and criminal conspiracy.

Stewart has been charged with aggravated robbery, criminal conspiracy, violation of the implied consent law, and driving under the influence.

Higgins said he immediately smelled a strong alcoholic odor coming from Stewart, her eyes were bloodshot and glossy, and she was belligerent. He said Stewart would not provide a blood or breath test “because she knew she was drunk,” and she said she had had five to six shots of vodka, according to the warrants.

The four were arrested at 3:26 a.m. Wednesday, April 1, and they remained jailed at the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton on Thursday morning.