Wanted after Oak Ridge shooting, Williams now faces federal gun charge

The Oak Ridge man wanted after a shooting and crash in north Oak Ridge in September now faces a federal firearms charge after police found a pistol and ammunition manufactured outside Tennessee in his house and car, authorities said.

Larry Dewayne Williams, 28, was indicted by a federal grand jury this month on one count of being a convicted felon who possessed a gun and ammunition, according to an indictment filed in U.S. District Court in Knoxville on October 6.

Williams, who was arrested near a South Knoxville club early Sunday, allegedly fled from Oak Ridge police in a silver Infiniti after the September 21 shooting on Wakefield Road. After he allegedly ran from the car following a three-vehicle crash at North Illinois Avenue and West Outer Drive, Oak Ridge Police Department Officer James Elkins found an AR-15 type firearm on the passenger floorboard of Williams’ Infiniti and a semi-automatic pistol lying inside.

During the hunt for Williams, an Anderson County Sheriff’s Department K-9 tracked Williams to a nearby home at 612 West Outer Drive, a house that Williams shares with Chelsea Lively, 22. Inside that house, police found hand gun cases and gun magazines in plain view, according to an affidavit that accompanies a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court on October 2.

They also found about two ounces of suspected heroin and roughly 7.72 ounces of suspected marijuana.

The federal affidavit said Williams has three prior felony convictions in Anderson County. All three are for possessing cocaine with the intent to sell it, authorities said.

A loaded Armscor .45-caliber pistol found in Williams’ car and all of the ammunition possessed by Williams, including a single round of 9mm ammunition found in the Infiniti, were manufactured outside Tennessee, affecting interstate commerce, the affidavit said.

“Both the firearms and ammunition recovered in this case also meet their respective definitions under the federal law,” the affidavit said.

 

The affidavit was filed by Special Agent Rebecca Bobich of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. It provides some additional insight on what happened September 21.

At about 8:30 p.m. that Monday, a shooting was reported on Wakefield Road in the Highland View neighborhood, Bobich said. A vehicle reported to have been involved in the shooting was a silver Infiniti sedan with damage to its rear. (Residents were already on edge because of two earlier reported shootings on Saturday and Sunday, although police have made an arrest linked to at least one of those cases.)

About two hours later, at roughly 10:21 p.m., Elkins saw a silver Infiniti with rear-end damage at the stoplight at West Outer Drive and North Illinois Avenue. Elkins pulled in behind the car and checked the registration. Dispatchers told him the car was registered to Williams, and they advised Elkins to use extreme caution due to Williams’ previous history with law enforcement.

Elkins tried to stop the car, the affidavit said. The Infiniti signaled as though it was going to pull over, but then it accelerated and pulled away from Elkins, the affidavit said. The car allegedly ran through a red light and was hit by one vehicle, which then caused Williams to hit another car, Bobich said.

The Infiniti rolled onto its side and slid into the curb, coming to a stop near a stoplight pole. Witnesses said a man climbed out of the driver’s side of the Infiniti while it was still sliding and ran into the woods north of West Outer Drive and just east of Ian’s Market gas station and convenience store.

But the Infiniti had caught on fire. When Elkins approached it, it was empty. He went back to his patrol car to get a fire extinguisher to put out the fire. He then learned that the suspect had fled on foot, Bobich said.

During his search for the driver, Elkins saw the semi-automatic pistol and AR-15 type gun in the car, the affidavit said. The car was secured and taken to a city facility until a search warrant was issued.

 

Law enforcement, including from Oak Ridge, Anderson County, and Oliver Springs, swarmed the area to search for Williams. Anderson County Sheriff’s Department Deputy John Acker searched the area with a canine officer and tracked Williams to the back of 612 West Outer Drive. Utilities at that house are registered to Lively, who is in a romantic relationship with Williams and lives with him, the affidavit said.

The door was not locked and came ajar when ORPD officers knocked on it, Bobich said. Officers announced their presence, but no one responded.

“Officers noted lights were on, and (the) television was operating,” the affidavit said.

Police entered the home to clear it and check the residents’ welfare, but they did not find anyone.

“Officers observed in plain view hand gun cases and gun magazines,” Bobich said. “In addition, the officers noted what they believed to be the odor of marijuana from within 10 feet of the home.”

Search warrants were obtained for the home and Williams’ vehicle.

When they searched the car, Bobich said, police found two firearms: a loaded Mohawk Armory .223 caliber pistol and a loaded Armscor .45 caliber pistol. They also found a single round of 9mm ammunition, according to the affidavit.

When they searched the home, the affidavit said, police found the suspected heroin and marijuana and plastic baggies, a Triton digital scale, .45 caliber ammunition, .223 caliber ammunition, and gun cases and gun magazines.

Lively, who is also facing charges, was located and interviewed on Thursday, September 24. She said Williams had shown up at the house at the bottom of the steps after the Monday, September 21, crash.

“She asked the defendant (Williams) what happened as she was helping him into the car, and she stated that he was not saying much, but that he kept stating, ‘We gotta go,’ and ‘I don’t know if I hurt the family,’” Bobich said. “He also stated, ‘I don’t know how I got out of the car. The car caught on fire, and it flipped.’”

Lively said she pulled out of the driveway and drove away from the police, according to the affidavit. “(Williams) kept saying that his life was over, that he’s done,” the affidavit said.

Lively told authorities that she had never bought guns and did not know how Williams got his weapons, Bobich said.

Williams was arrested this week, after 3 a.m. Sunday, October 18, at Club Dejavu in South Knoxville, according to the Knox County Sheriff’s Office.

The KCSO said they received an anonymous tip on Sunday that Williams was at the club. The tip came from someone who had observed his picture, the Sheriff’s Office said.

Williams immediately fled on foot from Knox County deputies when they arrived, according to the KCSO, but he was detained a short distance later.

He is currently in the Knox County jail. It’s not clear what specific charges Williams will face in Oak Ridge. Williams is also wanted by Anderson County for a violation of probation or parole, according to the KCSO.

Lively has been charged with possessing Schedule I (heroin) and Schedule VI (marijuana) drugs for sale. In September, authorities said further charges against her are expected.

A preliminary hearing for Williams has been set for November 2 in Knox County. Williams is currently on probation or parole and lists his address as 612 West Outer Drive, according to Tennessee Probation and Parole Officer Walter Cum.

 

Before his arrest Sunday, Oak Ridge police had issued a wanted bulletin for Williams, and they said he had been identified as a person of interest in the September 21 shooting when he fled from the ORPD shortly afterward and allegedly caused the three-car crash at the intersection of North Illinois Avenue and West Outer Drive.

There were no injuries during the shooting, but one Wakefield Road family that said it wasn’t involved said two bullets penetrated a wall of their home and another one lodged in the siding. If his son had been in his bedroom, one resident said, he might have been hit.

The Monday, September 21, shooting followed a Sunday night, September 20, arrest by the ORPD of a suspect in an earlier series of shootings in two neighborhoods, including in Scarboro and on Wakefield Road. Those shootings allegedly started Saturday night and continued through Sunday afternoon. In that case, Debriael Hall, 20, of Oak Ridge, was arrested after a high-speed chase that went through several counties and cities, ending in Newport after spike strips were deployed. One Wakefield Road resident said the tailgate of her truck was struck by a bullet during one of those earlier shootings.

It’s not clear yet, though, who did the shooting on Monday night, September 21, whether it was a drive-by, as it has sometimes been described, or whether there was more than one person involved. But there appeared to be a significant number of rounds fired. At the scene that night, Oak Ridge Police Department Detective Kevin Craig documented 21 casings.

Read the criminal complaint and affidavit here: Larry Dewayne Williams Complaint 10-2-15.

See the federal grand jury indictment here: Larry Dewayne Williams Indictment 10-6-15.

More information will be added as it becomes available.

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