Oak Ridge Today

AC, Clinton schools closing early Friday; police prepare for presidential visit

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President Barack Obama

President Barack Obama

Schools in Clinton and Anderson County will close early on Friday so buses can miss the traffic congestion and closed roads that are expected when President Barack Obama visits.

Dozens of intersections along the motorcade’s expected route will have to be covered, Clinton Police Chief Rick Scarbrough told WYSH Radio.

Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, and Biden’s wife Jill will visit Clinton manufacturer Techmer PM after the president speaks at Pellissippi State Community College in west Knox County. The visit to Clinton will be the first for a president. [Read more…]

Rocky Top man dies after shooting described as accidental

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Anderson County Sheriff Patch

A Rocky Top man died in what was reported to be an accidental shooting on Dutch Valley Road in Anderson County on Tuesday night, authorities said.

Christopher Scott Cody Bunch, 23, was unresponsive and lying on the floor with a gunshot wound to the chest when Anderson County Sheriff’s Department deputies responded to a home on Dutch Valley Road at about 9:57 p.m. Tuesday, an incident report said. A neighbor who is certified in first aid and had been called over was sitting next to Bunch holding a towel on the wound, the report said.

Paramedics responded and tried to save Bunch, but he was pronounced dead just after 10 p.m., the report said.

Joseph Eric McClane, of Clinton, told Anderson County Sheriff’s Department Deputy Joshua A. Humphrey that he accidentally shot Bunch, his friend, the report said. [Read more…]

East Tennessee man charged with rape, assault, false imprisonment

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Robert John Davis

Robert John Davis

An East Tennessee man is accused of raping his ex-girlfriend in a Claxton home, shoving her backward and causing her head to go through a sheetrock wall, pointing a pistol at her and himself, and threatening to burn down her house, authorities said.

Robert John Davis, 34, is accused of using the victim’s debit card without permission to withdraw $200, throwing objects and ransacking her house, and telling her she had to have sex with him if she wanted to have her car keys, according to warrants filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court.

Davis has been charged with rape, aggravated assault, domestic assault, false imprisonment, property theft, unauthorized use of an auto/joyriding, and violation of an order of protection, the warrants said. Davis, who has addresses listed in Powell and Greenback, remains jailed in the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton, and his bail has been set at $237,500, according to court records. [Read more…]

Adjusted 911 rates to take effect Jan. 1

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911 Decal

A new state law that takes effect on Thursday, January 1, will result in changes to 911 surcharges on residential and business lines and cellular phones.

The Anderson County Emergency Communications District said the new law, the 911 Funding Modernization and IP Transition Act of 2014, passed the Tennessee General Assembly in April. It changes the way 911 surcharges are collected and paid and affects all 911 districts in Tennessee, including Anderson County.

“It updates the existing model for funding 911 to account for changes in technology and consumer choice by establishing a single, uniform 911 surcharge rate across the state,” the Anderson County Emergency Communications District said in a press release. [Read more…]

Report: Stolen BMW set on fire on Old Batley Road

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A BMW that had been reported stolen in Oak Ridge burned on Old Batley Road on Saturday, authorities said.

The fire appeared to have been set intentionally in the front passenger seat of the green four-door sedan, according to volunteer firefighters from Marlow, Anderson County Sheriff’s Department Deputy James Presson wrote in an incident report. Valued at about $6,900, the 2000 BMW 3-series car was towed to Tate’s Towing in Oak Ridge. [Read more…]

DA: No suspect, no charge in alleged rape by officer or security guard

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Dave Clark

Dave Clark

Note: This story was last updated at 8:40 p.m.

The six-month investigation of an alleged rape by a security guard or police officer has been completed, and no suspect has been identified and there is no basis for a criminal charge, Anderson County’s top prosecutor said. Also, the credibility of the alleged victim is in doubt, District Attorney General Dave Clark said in a Tuesday letter to Oak Ridge Police Chief Jim Akagi.

The Oak Ridge Police Department reported the alleged rape in June. An adult female had reported that she was raped by a uniformed man who appeared to be a police officer or security guard, although it wasn’t clear if a specific agency was ever named. The woman reported that she was handcuffed and raped behind Oak Ridge Mall in the back seat of a police-type cruiser.

The woman was interviewed by Oak Ridge police officers, and the ORPD then contacted the Anderson County District Attorney General’s Office, which notified the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation of the allegation.

“Due to the nature of the allegation, Chief Akagi thought it would be best to have another agency conduct the investigation,” Clark said in a two-page investigative report.

The TBI investigation of the high-profile case is now complete. [Read more…]

Fire displaces family on East Wolf Valley Road

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Information from WYSH Radio

A family was displaced after a fire at a mobile home Saturday night. The fire was reported just before 8:30 p.m. Saturday at 1042 East Wolf Valley Road, and authorities reported that no one was home at the time.

A neighbor who shares a driveway with the home owned by Jennifer Neal saw flames and called 911, and Neal returned home after being notified of the blaze. She told investigators and firefighters that she had left at around 6 p.m. and that her children had not been there all day. Neal said she could not think of anything that could have started the fire. [Read more…]

After tip, investigative work, sex offender wanted in Sullivan arrested in Heiskell

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Glen Reed Keller

Glen Reed Keller

After a tip by a resident and investigative work by dispatchers, Anderson County deputies on Tuesday arrested a man in Heiskell who was wanted by the Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office in Blountville for violating the sexual offender registry.

Glen Reed Keller, 43, was arrested Tuesday evening at a home on White Oak Lane in Heiskell community, Anderson County  Sheriff’s Department Chief Deputy Mark Lucas said.

The Anderson County Communications Center had received a tip from a citizen who had watched a news report on television concerning Keller. Dispatchers had seen the same broadcast. The Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office had sent a news release to the local media in the Tri-Cities, area which was shared with a local TV outlet in Knoxville, Lucas said. [Read more…]

DA: Criminal investigation under way in apartment death, but so far, no arrest, charges

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Dave Clark

Dave Clark

A criminal investigation is under way in the death of a 29-year-old man at an apartment in Oak Ridge early Monday, but there has not been an arrest yet and no charges have been filed, Anderson County District Attorney General Dave Clark said Thursday.

Thomas Steven Thrasher Jr., 29, was found dead in a second-floor apartment when the Oak Ridge Police Department responded to a report of a possible intruder at about 4:40 a.m. Monday at 615 West Vanderbilt Drive.

Clark said an autopsy has been performed by the Anderson County medical examiner.

“As a result of the circumstances, the Oak Ridge Police and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation have been conducting a criminal investigation,” Clark said. “There has been no arrest or charges filed at this time.” [Read more…]

Anderson County woman dies in crash on Lake City Highway

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Information from WYSH Radio

An Anderson County woman died in a single-vehicle crash on Lake City Highway Tuesday morning, authorities said.

According to the Tennessee Highway Patrol, 71-year-old Marianna Pearson of Clinton had been headed south in a Mazda 626 at around 9 a.m. Tuesday when she lost control of the car while negotiating a right-hand curve near Pumphouse Lane. The car went off the left side of the road and struck an embankment.

The cause of the crash is under investigation.

Sheriff: 25 indicted on drug charges

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Paul White

Paul White

Note: This story was updated at 11:45 a.m.

Twenty-five people were indicted on drug-related charges by an Anderson County Grand Jury in November after investigations by the Sheriff’s Special Operations Unit, authorities said Wednesday.

Deputies have been out making arrests on these indictments while also continuing investigations on related drug activity, Anderson County Sheriff Paul White said in a Wednesday morning press release.

The drug investigations were conducted during the last few months. White said the indictments were for the manufacture, sales, delivery, or possession of illegal drugs, and those indicted either sold to undercover agents or possessed drugs for resale.

“These indictments primarily include charges resulting from sale or possession for resale of prescription or legend drugs, as well as marijuana and methamphetamine-related offenses,” White said. [Read more…]

Toys For Tots can be dropped off at AC Detention Facility through Dec. 15

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Toys for Tots

The staff at the Anderson County Detention Facility has volunteered to let the facility be used as a Toys For Tots drop-off center for Christmas 2014.

Gifts for children that are new or unopened will be accepted in the drop-off box located in the Detention Facility lobby at 308 Public Safety Lane in Clinton. The box will be available to the public from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. each day until Monday, December 15.

Toys For Tots is an official activity of the United States Marine Corps and a mission of the Marine Corps Reserve, a press release said. First founded in 1947, the U.S. Marine Corps adopted Toys For Tots and expanded it into a nationwide community action project.

Now an international project, in 2012 Toys For Tots distributed almost 17 million toys to more than seven million children across the world, the release said. [Read more…]