The Anderson County Sheriff’s Office is asking for help identifying a person who died in an apparent suicide.
The Sheriff’s Office responded to Bacon Springs Lane in Marlow, just north of Oak Ridge, at 3:52 p.m. Sunday.
A family had been walking in the area when they found a human skull, said Tyler Mayes, ACSO spokesperson and director of administrative services.
[Read more…]
As of Tuesday, Anderson County Emergency Medical Services had responded to more than 40 suspected COVID-19 calls since mid-March, Director Nathan Sweet said last week.
As of Tuesday, only one patient transported by Anderson County EMS had tested positive for COVID-19, Sweet said.
The suspected COVID-19 calls have come from across Anderson County: Oak Ridge, Norris, Clinton, Rocky Top, Marlow, Medford—”really just about anywhere in the county,” Sweet said.
The suspected COVID-19 calls are being screened by 911 emergency call centers in Anderson County, Clinton, and Oak Ridge to better prepare emergency responders before they arrive at the call site.
“If they meet any of the screening criteria, our crews are responding in appropriate personal protective equipment as a precaution for safety,” Sweet said.
[Read more…]
The number of inmates at the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton has fallen significantly, mostly due to COVID-19, a law enforcement official said last week.
On Wednesday, there were 297 inmates at the jail, which was more than 100 inmates below the average, said Tyler Mayes, director of administrative services for the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office.
“This is predominantly a result of COVID-19,” Mayes said. COVID-19 is a contagious respiratory illness that can be deadly.
No one had tested positive for COVID-19 as of Wednesday, Mayes said.
He said local jails across Tennessee are seeing similar reductions in the number of inmates as low risk, non-violent offenders are being placed on pre-trail supervision or being released on a low bond.
[Read more…]
Hoping to prevent the infection or spread of COVID-19, the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office said it is checking the temperature of everyone entering the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton and is using a hospital-grade disinfectant to clean the jail and patrol cars.
If a person has a fever and symptoms consistent with COVID-19, the Sheriff’s Office said it will make a decision on whether to admit them on a case-by-case basis while talking to the office of Seventh District Attorney General Dave Clark.
The Sheriff’s Office said its maintenance staff is cleaning the cells, walls, and floors of the Detention Facility more frequently than normal using a hospital-grade disinfectant that will help kill germs.
[Read more…]
Anderson County Sheriff’s Office Corporal Kim Lay was named the National L.E.A.D (Law Enforcement Against Drugs) Instructor of the Year on Tuesday at the National L.E.A.D Conference in New Jersey, a press release said.
In addition to her national award, Lay was named Instructor of the Year for the state of Tennessee. She received notice of the state award prior to attending the conference, but she was surprised when the L.E.A.D president called her name for the prestigious national award, the press relief said.
“Words cannot express how honored I am to receive these awards,” Lay said. “The L.E.A.D program has changed many lives, and I am grateful to play a small part in the process.”
[Read more…]
The Lunch with the League program on Tuesday, February 18, will feature Melissa Miller, site coordinator of the new Anderson County Family Justice Center, and Detective Wendy Zolkowski of the Oak Ridge Police Department.
The Anderson County Family Justice Center will open in July 2020, a press release said.
“Miller and Zolkowski are working together to set up a world-class center that will provide a combination of services and interventions available in one location to help victims of child abuse, elder abuse, and domestic violence,” the press release said. “The Center will help victims break the cycle of violence and become thriving survivors by providing access to onsite professionals who will assist them in making this transition. The Center will be a free and confidential resource for clients.”
[Read more…]
KNOXVILLE—An Anderson County man who has been convicted of two homicides and has been charged in state court with the attempted murder of a deputy was found guilty in federal court on Friday of gun and drug crimes that have potential sentences of life in prison.
A 12-person jury deliberated for about two hours Friday morning before reaching a unanimous verdict on the four federal charges.
The rest of this story, which you will find only on Oak Ridge Today, is available if you are a member: an advertiser, sponsor, or subscriber to Oak Ridge Today.
Already a member? Great! Thank you! Sign in here.
Not a member? No problem! Subscribe here:
Basic
Pro
Temporary
If you prefer to send a check, you may do so by mailing one to:
Oak Ridge Today
P.O. Box 6064
Oak Ridge, TN 37831
Learn about our advanced subscription options here.
Note: Most news stories on Oak Ridge Today are free, brought to you by Oak Ridge Today with help from our advertisers, sponsors, and subscribers. Some are considered premium content. This story is premium content. Premium content can include in-depth, investigative, and exclusive stories. These stories generally take more than four hours to report, write, and publish.
Thank you for reading Oak Ridge Today!
Dave Clark
Submitted
Elder abuse is a new focus of Anderson County and the Oak Ridge Police Department. The two agencies are preparing to jointly implement a Senior Citizens Awareness Network, or SCAN, program that will likely start later this year to deal with the crime.
District Attorney General David Clark of the Seventh Judicial District and his Anderson County office are leading the charge on combating elder abuse, and the office will be running the SCAN program, according to a press release. RPD will help implement the program in Oak Ridge.
Clark and ORPD Detective Wendy Zolkowski will speak Thursday, January 16, about the SCAN program, elder abuse in Oak Ridge, and the ways seniors can be protected.
Their talks will be the first in 2020 in the lecture series sponsored by Roane State Community College and the Oak Ridge Institute for Continued Learning. They will speak at 2 p.m. Thursday in the City Room (A-111) of the Coffey-McNally building on RSCC’s Oak Ridge Branch Campus, 701 Briarcliff Avenue. ORPD is hosting the presentation, which will be preceded by a reception with refreshments at 1:30 p.m. in the lobby. [Read more…]
Joshua Andrew Koch
A 42-year-old Anderson County man is facing federal charges of conspiring to distribute cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine after a search of a home in Claxton in July allegedly found about 230 grams of a white, crystal-like substance thought to be methamphetamine and roughly 69.5 grams of a brown powder substance suspected to be heroin, according to state and federal court records.
The defendant has also been charged with federal financial and firearms crimes, and he has seven co-defendants in the case, although the charges vary by defendant.
The rest of this story, which you will find only on Oak Ridge Today, is available if you are a member: an advertiser, sponsor, or subscriber to Oak Ridge Today.
Already a member? Great! Thank you! Sign in here.
Not a member? No problem! Subscribe here:
Basic
Pro
Temporary
If you prefer to send a check, you may do so by mailing one to:
Oak Ridge Today
P.O. Box 6064
Oak Ridge, TN 37831
Learn about our advanced subscription options here.
Note: Most news stories on Oak Ridge Today are free, brought to you by Oak Ridge Today with help from our advertisers, sponsors, and subscribers. Some are considered premium content. This story is premium content. Premium content can include in-depth, investigative, and exclusive stories. These stories generally take more than four hours to report, write, and publish.
Thank you for reading Oak Ridge Today!
The Anderson County Sheriff’s Department investigates a shooting at 3008 Clinton Highway, at the intersection of Clinton Highway and Lonesome Dove Road in Claxton, on Saturday evening, Jan. 13, 2018. Two people were reported to have non-life threatening injuries. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
CLINTON—An Oak Ridge man received a 20-year prison sentence when he pleaded guilty Tuesday to three counts of attempted first-degree murder after a shooting that injured two people during an argument in a Clinton Highway home about two years ago.
The rest of this story, which you will find only on Oak Ridge Today, is available if you are a member: an advertiser, sponsor, or subscriber to Oak Ridge Today.
Already a member? Great! Thank you! Sign in here.
Not a member? No problem! Subscribe here:
Basic
Pro
Temporary
If you prefer to send a check, you may do so by mailing one to:
Oak Ridge Today
P.O. Box 6064
Oak Ridge, TN 37831
Learn about our advanced subscription options here.
Note: Most news stories on Oak Ridge Today are free, brought to you by Oak Ridge Today with help from our advertisers, sponsors, and subscribers. Some are considered premium content. This story is premium content. Premium content can include in-depth, investigative, and exclusive stories. These stories generally take more than four hours to report, write, and publish.
Thank you for reading Oak Ridge Today!
A new federal designation for Anderson County will mean more federal funding for the county’s drug and violent crime task force and a full-time agent from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.
Anderson County is now a high-intensity drug trafficking area, or HIDTA. That designation came from the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. It occurred in September and will go into effect January 1.
As part of a two-part announcement this month, law enforcement officials said the White House also selected the county’s task force, the Seventh Judicial District Crime Task Force, as an Appalachia HIDTA, or AHIDTA. It’s the only locally led drug task force in Tennessee, according to Seventh Judicial District Attorney General Dave Clark. The county’s Crime Task Force, or CTF, is led by Director Simon Byrne.
“No other drug task force in Tennessee has been awarded an AHIDTA grant,” Clark said. “I am very proud of our leadership team for thinking outside of the box and in looking for smart ways to make our communities safer as well as be good stewards of taxpayer dollars. We are more excited than we can convey, but in short believe that this development has the potential to be transformative as to what we are able to do in Anderson County to protect and serve our communities.”
[Read more…]
Royce Scott Earley, 42, of Clinton was arrested Sunday night on three charges of rape of a child and incest, law enforcement officers said.
Anderson County Sheriff’s Office Detective Darrell Slater was dispatched to the victim’s home in Clinton to investigate a sexual offense, Sheriff Russell Barker said in a press release Monday. After obtaining a statement from the witness, Slater turned his attention to finding Earley.
Earley was located in his parked truck at the Mountain View boat ramp in Clinton, the sheriff said. Earley was taken to the Criminal Investigations Division at the Sheriff’s Office and interviewed by Slater.
After the interview, Slater obtained arrest warrants and placed Earley in custody, the press release said. He was transported to the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton without incident.
[Read more…]