Oak Ridge Today

Man pleads to robbery charges

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Information from WYSH Radio

A Knoxville man pleaded guilty Thursday in Anderson County Criminal Court to reduced charges in a 2012 armed robbery at a Clinton loan store.

Adrian Nathaniel Butler, 20, had been charged with aggravated robbery and theft in the Jan. 12, 2012, robbery at the Cash2You store on Clinch Avenue in South Clinton, and he pleaded guilty to the theft charge and to a reduced charge of robbery.

In exchange for his plea, he was sentenced to eight years behind bars. He has been given credit for the two years that he has been in custody. [Read more…]

AC committee recommends suspension of AVFD money

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Information from WYSH Radio

The Anderson County Commission’s Operations Committee voted Monday to recommend suspending the county’s annual $20,000 appropriation to the Andersonville Volunteer Fire Department for as long as it remains a subscription-based service.

The county has for some time now donated $20,000 each year to each of the county’s 10 volunteer fire departments and the all-volunteer rescue squad on a rotating basis, but after the AVFD announced it was moving to the subscription-based service, efforts were undertaken to remove it from that rotation. The fire department was criticized by citizens and some county officials when it launched the program two years ago, not only for charging a fee, but also for how the rollout of the program was handled.

The County Commission will consider that recommendation on Monday.

Two arrested in robbery after posing as female on meetme.com, sheriff says

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Shawn Dillon Summers

Shawn Dillon Summers

A 19-year-old Knoxville man was robbed and assaulted with a hammer and baseball bat in a mobile home park in Marlow on Tuesday morning after responding to a fake female profile on the social networking site meetme.com, authorities said.

The victim was treated at a Knoxville hospital, and the incident was reported to the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department.

Kavonte Jamar Carson

Kavonte Jamar Carson

Two men were arrested on Tuesday afternoon in the alleged robbery, Sheriff Paul White said in a press release. The two are Shawn Dillon Summers, 18, of Joann Lane in Marlow, and Kavonte Jamar Carson, 19, who was  listed at the same address as well as at one in Rockford, Tenn. Both have been charged with aggravated robbery and criminal conspiracy. Carson was also charged with burglary to a vehicle. They are being held in the Anderson County Detention Facility with bonds pending their arraignments. [Read more…]

Sheriff: Investigators arrest three, find four pounds of pot, seize two vehicles

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Sheriff Paul White and Wells Road Drug Raid

Anderson County Sheriff Paul White says investigators found about four pounds of marijuana, hash, and suspected prescription narcotics during a drug raid in Claxton on Thursday. Two vehicles and electronic items were seized, and three people were arrested. (Submitted photo)

Investigators found about four pounds of marijuana, hashish, and suspected prescription narcotics during a drug raid in Claxton on Thursday, authorities said. Three people were arrested, and two vehicles were seized.

Investigators also found drug paraphernalia at the home at 105 Wells Road, and they seized electronic items along with items used to process marijuana for resale, Anderson County Sheriff Paul White said in a press release.

Investigators with the Sheriff’s Special Operations Unit obtained the search warrant for the home after an investigation into illegal drug activity. [Read more…]

Anderson sheriff joins state, local police in ‘Drive to Zero Fatalities’

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DUI Logo

The Anderson County Sheriff’s Department will join the Tennessee Highway Patrol and local police agencies in cooperation with the Governor’s Highway Safety Office in a nationwide campaign to reduce traffic fatalities by 15 percent in 2014, a press release said. The Drive To Zero Fatalities was initiated by the International Association of Chiefs of Police and is being promoted by the Tennessee Sheriff’s Association and the Tennessee Association of Chiefs of Police.

The Drive to Zero Fatalities campaign is a data-driven effort that will focus on several traffic safety goals, the press release said. Sheriff’s deputies, state troopers, and local police officers will work together to reduce fatalities in Anderson County and to step up enforcement efforts for drunk and impaired drivers, distracted drivers, speeding, and seat belt use. Saturation patrols and sobriety checkpoints will be a part of this effort. [Read more…]

ORPD officer resigns to focus on campaign for sheriff

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Randy Myers

Randy Myers

Note: This story was updated at 3:48 p.m. April 11.

Oak Ridge Police Department Officer Randy Myers is resigning so he can focus on campaigning full-time for sheriff.

His last day on the job will officially be Tuesday, April 15.

“We’re campaigning full-steam,” Myers said Thursday. “We’re fully committed.”

Myers, 48, started with the ORPD in 2007. He is a Republican candidate for Anderson County sheriff in the May 6 primary election, where he has one opponent, Tennessee Highway Patrol trooper Anthony Lay. The primary winner will face the incumbent, Sheriff Paul White, a Democrat, in the Aug. 7 county general election.

[Read more…]

Clinton woman charged with attempted murder after shooting at husband

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Cheryl Ann Freels

Cheryl Ann Freels

Note: This story was updated at 3:10 p.m.

A Clinton woman has been charged with attempted first-degree murder after she allegedly shot at her husband with a 9mm handgun Sunday night, authorities said.

Cheryl Ann Freels, 32, of 226 North Slope Lane, allegedly tried to fire a second time, but the gun jammed, according to arrest warrants filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court. Freels’ husband was able to take the gun from his wife after it jammed and leave the home with his juvenile son.

Her husband told Anderson County Sheriff’s Department Deputy Samuel Ogburn that he had been watching television in the upstairs living room when he saw his wife standing with the handgun pointed at him. He said his wife fired at him after he stood up. He said he was able to move out of the way of the gun, and the round hit the wall behind him, according to the warrants. [Read more…]

AC man pleads guilty in assault, kidnapping case

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Information from WYSH Radio

On Thursday, a Clinton man pleaded guilty to charges that he threatened a woman with a knife and held her against her will in November.

Eric Jason Lawson, 31, pleaded guilty to a charge of aggravated assault and a reduced charge of attempted aggravated kidnapping and was sentenced to six years in prison on each count, to be served concurrently. As a multiple offender, he will have to serve at least 35 percent of his sentence before becoming eligible for parole.

The incident occurred in November 2013, and the victim told authorities that Lawson had threatened her with a knife, locked her in a bedroom and a bathroom, and forced her to crawl under a bed. At one point, the woman escaped the home only to be caught by Lawson, who reportedly showed her the knife and said, “This is what I will kill you with.”

Human skull found near Norman Road in Claxton

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A Claxton resident who lives on Norman Road in Anderson County reported finding a human skull on his property on Tuesday, authorities said. The skull was apparently carried there by an animal.

Investigators with the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department’s Criminal Investigation Unit, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, and Regional Forensic Center responded to the scene, Chief Deputy Mark Lucas said in a Tuesday afternoon statement.

“The skull was taken to the forensic center for examination to determine the age, sex, and race, along with how long the skull had been exposed to the elements,” Lucas said. “The area was searched by cadaver dogs from the Roane County Sheriff’s Office, but nothing else was located.” [Read more…]

Anderson County jail expansion to open soon

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Anderson County Detention Facility

The expanded Anderson County Detention Facility, which has a renovated front entrance, is pictured above in Clinton.

Information from WYSH Radio

Members of the Anderson County Alternatives to Incarceration Committee have been given a tour of the soon-to-be-completed addition to the Anderson County Jail. The expansion is expected to open within the next month or so.

Officials said that when the new maximum-security pod opens, it will give them the ability to properly segregate prisoners as required by state law. The expansion, along with a 128-bed minimum-security dormitory, is expected to meet the county’s needs for the next decade.

The project cost just under $10.7 million and included renovations to the existing jail. Some of those improvements include a new video visitation area and a larger training room for deputies. [Read more…]

AC man indicted on DUI charges…again

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Information from WYSH Radio

An Anderson County grand jury has indicted a man already facing charges of vehicular homicide by intoxication on another charge of DUI.

Danny Bean, 56, is facing charges in a November 2012 wreck on Highway 61 that killed two women—Alberta Farrer and Patricia Smith—and earlier this month, was indicted on a DUI charge stemming from a single-vehicle accident last year.

On April 7, 2013, Bean crashed his car into a ditch and when emergency crews arrived, he told them that he had taken prescription medication earlier in the day to explain his very slow and slurred speech. [Read more…]

AC man pleads guilty in 2010 shooting death

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 Information from WYSH Radio

Last week, a Briceville man pleaded guilty to charges of voluntary manslaughter and aggravated assault in a 2010 shooting that left his neighbor dead.

Larry Joshua Ramsey, 39, shot Bobby Allen Turpin, 46, during an argument in front of Ramsey’s house on New River Highway on April 14, 2010. The argument stemmed from Turpin accusing Ramsey’s then-11-year-old son of stealing a pocketknife.

Ramsey grabbed his pistol before going outside to confront Turpin, and at some point during the argument shot and killed him. Turpin died at the scene, and Ramsey has been in custody ever since. [Read more…]