Burglars caught in Butcher Mansion when SWAT team arrives for training, ACSD says

Two burglars were caught inside the former Butcher Mansion when the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department SWAT team arrived for monthly training on Thursday, May 26, authorities said.

The owner of the property allows deputies to conduct training exercises at the home, which is under renovation, Anderson County Sheriff’s Department Chief Deputy Mark Lucas said. The Butcher Mansion is on Whirlwind Point off Old Emory Road in Claxton.

The SWAT team arrived for monthly training at about 7:30 a.m. May 26, Lucas said. They found two people had broken into the home and were preparing to steal several items, including appliances, Lucas said.

Gerald Lynn “Petey” Brummett, 37, of Clinton, and Mechelle Lynn Parton, 38, of Knoxville, were charged with aggravated burglary, felony property theft, and possession of burglary tools. Parton was also charged with possession of methamphetamine, Lucas said. Both Brummett and Parton have been released on bond.

“I guess you could say they picked the wrong house that day,” Lucas said.

He said Brummett has a lengthy criminal history and, as a juvenile, was charged along with another teenager in April 1993 in the ambush shooting of an Anderson County deputy at the old Shinlever School. Brummett was convicted in 2003 of second-degree murder in the 2001 stabbing death of a Caryville woman whose body was found off New River Highway in Laurel Grove.

In another incident Thursday, a suspicious person was reported trying to flag down passing cars on Blockhouse Valley Road in Anderson County asking for a ride at about 7 a.m., Lucas said.

“While deputies were enroute to this call, a women that lives on Blockhouse Valley Road called 911 to say someone had kicked open her front door and entered her residence while she was home,” Lucas said. “When deputies arrived, they found the two calls involved the same person.”

Timothy Scott Ford, 34, of Knoxville, was arrested and charged with aggravated burglary.  Ford told deputies he was running from another person who had assaulted him, Lucas said.

The chief deputy said the homeowner did not know Ford and was not harmed. Ford remains in the Anderson County Detention Facility under $50,000 bond.

More information will be added as it becomes available.

Copyright 2016 Oak Ridge Today. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.