Driver who died in Thursday crash was EMT, volunteer firefighter

Note: This story was last updated at 8:55 p.m.

Police have identified the driver who died in a Thursday morning crash on Lafayette Drive in Oak Ridge.

Colton Alexander Stout, 20, of Oak Ridge, died after his 1994 Toyota 4Runner left the four-lane divided roadway and crashed into a tree in the median, an Oak Ridge Police Department report said.

The crash occurred at about 9:21 a.m. Thursday just north of Midland Road. That’s between Emory Valley Road and South Illinois Avenue on Lafeyette Drive.

The front end of Stout’s vehicle hit the tree and the 4Runner then rolled onto its right side. Stout was taken by ambulance to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville, but he died enroute, ORPD Officer Nathan Stinnett said in the report.

A witness told police that Stout was using his cell phone and possibly texting at the intersection of Lafayette Drive and Emory Valley Road, Stinnett said. But it’s not clear from the report if Stout was using his phone at the time of the collision. Emory Valley Road is about 0.8 miles from the crash site, or a few minutes away.

An obituary posted by Weatherford Mortuary said Stout was an Oak Ridge High School graduate who was employed with Campbell County Emergency Medical Services as an emergency medical technician.

“We loved him very dearly,” Campbell County EMS Supervisor Joan Durst said. “He was one of our family.”

She said Stout had worked at Campbell County EMS a little more than a year and had recently joined the Anderson County Rescue Squad.

“He really enjoyed helping others,” Durst said. “He was the life of the group, always happy and eager to work.”

The obituary said Stout had worked as a volunteer at the Marlow Volunteer Fire Department and as a substitute teacher with the Anderson County school system.

A receiving of friends and funeral are scheduled to start at 6 p.m. Monday, Feb. 3, at Calvary Baptist Church in Oak Ridge.

A graveside service will be held at 1 p.m. Tuesday at Oak Ridge Memorial Park. The Campbell County EMS will serve as pallbearers. The EMS will also transport Stout’s casket to the cemetery in one of their ambulances, as well as provide an honor guard, the obituary said. Lifestar, the airborne ambulance service, will fly over the cemetery.

The family has asked that any memorials be made in Stout’s name to the Marlow Volunteer Fire Department or to the Campbell County EMS.

More information will be added as it becomes available.