A Maynardville teenager was taken to a Knoxville hospital after the car in which he was riding spun out on South Illinois Avenue on Saturday evening and hit a tree near Edgemoor Road.
Jason Hale, 18, of Raccoon Valley Road, was trapped or had to be extricated, an Oak Ridge Police Department crash report said. He was injured and taken by ambulance to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville, the report said. [Read more…]
Three Oak Ridge businesses have avoided short suspensions of their beer permits, but five more have hearings in the next two months.
The Oak Ridge Beer Permit Board had imposed the suspensions against the three businesses in three separate meetings during the past three months. Two were punished for selling beer to a minor and one over concerns that included questions about whether it was serving its customers too much alcohol.
But all three businesses have complied with the Beer Board’s orders, so they were able to avoid the suspensions, Oak Ridge Senior Staff Attorney Tammy Dunn said last week. [Read more…]
Darryl Kerley
Oak Ridge Fire Department Chief Darryl Kerley will reflect on the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks 12 years ago during a Wednesday presentation.
Kerley’s talk is titled “What 9/11 Means to Me: Reflections of a First Responder,” a press release said.
“It is a day that has taken on personal meaning to me and my family for multiple reasons,” Kerley said. “I am deeply honored to talk about 9/11 and about the tremendous team of firefighters we have assembled here in Oak Ridge.” [Read more…]
The Oak Ridge Police Department recovered several thousand dollars worth of merchandise allegedly stolen during a string of burglaries during the past two weeks. Two teenagers were arrested and charged with burglary and possession of stolen property.
Police searching an apartment in east Oak Ridge early Thursday morning recovered several thousand dollars worth of items allegedly taken in burglaries during the past few weeks, and two teenagers were arrested and charged with burglary and possession of stolen property, authorities said.
The stolen items, which fill a table at the police station, include backpacks and women’s accessories, sporting equipment such as golf clubs, and electronic merchandise such as cell phones, GPS systems, and a television. Police said they will try to match the items to recent reports of stolen equipment, and officers will call victims.
After the Thursday morning search, the Oak Ridge Police Department arrested Chase Davis, 19, and Bryson Higgins, 18. They both live in an apartment on Erskine Lane at the Tara Hills Apartments, and they face multiple counts of burglary and possession of stolen property. [Read more…]
Information from WYSH Radio
One man pleaded guilty to reduced charges in an August 2011 robbery that ended with one man being shot dead while his brother—the accused gunman—backed out of a plea deal and will stand trial next year.
On Wednesday, James Brooms, 24, entered a best-interest plea to facilitation to commit second-degree murder and attempted aggravated robbery and was sentenced to 12 years in prison. [Read more…]
Michael LaPaglia
Note: This story was last updated at 12:02 p.m.
An East Tennessee doctor with ties to Oak Ridge and Anderson County was arrested Tuesday morning at his Knoxville home on drug and weapons charges after officers allegedly found about 125 marijuana pipes and bongs, more than two pounds of high-grade marijuana, and pills and vials containing liquids commonly used in hospitals, with the medicines ranging from Valium and amphetamine to oxycodone, propofol, and morphine, authorities said.
The Knoxville Police Department arrested Michael A. LaPaglia, 42, after responding to a report of a domestic dispute at a home on Fox Cove Road about 11:46 p.m. Monday, spokesman Darrell DeBusk said. When police entered the home, they said they noticed a strong marijuana smell throughout the house. They also saw several Mason jars with marijuana residue as well as bongs, or water pipes used to smoke marijuana, according to a KPD statement. [Read more…]
An example of what the new Oak Ridge Fire Department engines could look like. (Photos courtesy ORFD)
Buying three new fire trucks at the same time could save money and make repairs and training easier, a city official said.
Firefighters would only have to train on one truck, rather than on three different versions, and mechanics would only have to learn to fix one, Oak Ridge Fire Department Chief Darryl Kerley told City Council members last week. When ordering parts, mechanics could order multiple replacements and have backups available.
The City Council will consider whether to buy the new fire engines during a 7 p.m. meeting on Monday, Sept. 9. The three new fire engines would replace trucks that are 15 years old and each have about 150,000 miles on them. Those vehicles would be used as reserves. [Read more…]
The Oak Ridge Police Department was one of 19 local and state law enforcement agencies that received part of $4.1 million in cash seized during a 2011 investigation of a Mexican drug trafficking organization.
The ORPD received $69,814, said U.S. Attorney William C. Killian of the Eastern District of Tennessee in Knoxville. Other law enforcement agencies in California, North Carolina, and Tennessee received amounts ranging from about $35,000 to close to $420,000. [Read more…]
Kayla Pesterfield
An Oak Ridge woman who alleged she was attacked and cut with a knife by an unknown man in her home on Tuesday afternoon was charged with false reporting after police checked the Beverly Circle property and reviewed a neighbor’s videotape, which showed no man had entered or left the residence, authorities said.
Kayla Pesterfield, 21, reported the alleged assault at about 4:30 p.m. Tuesday. She said the stranger was in her bedroom and attacked her by pushing her up against a wall. The man then cut her right thigh and the front of her shorts with a knife, Pesterfield told police, according to an arrest warrant. [Read more…]
Police had insufficient evidence to either prove or disprove a report that a woman returned home to find an unknown man in a South Beverly Circle house on Tuesday afternoon and might have been injured by him, a spokesman said Wednesday.
The Oak Ridge Police Department received a call at about 4:30 p.m. Tuesday that a woman had returned to the house in west Oak Ridge and was surprised by the man inside.
[Read more…]
Note: This story was updated at 1:50 p.m.
A nine-year-old girl who was riding a bicycle when she was hit by a car on Highland Avenue on Sunday night is in stable condition at the University of Tennessee Medical Center, authorities said.
The girl was struck at about 5:38 p.m. near Hillside Drive, according to a Monday morning news release from the Oak Ridge Police Department. The car was a 2002 black Lexus driven by Roy Kirk, 67, of South Hollywood Circle in Oak Ridge. [Read more…]
Darryl Kerley
Josh Waldo
The Center for Public Safety Excellence recognized four officers of the Oak Ridge Fire Department for their national accreditation at the Fire Rescue International Conference-CPSE annual Accreditation banquet in Chicago this month.
Fire Chief Darryl Kerley and Assistant Fire Chief Josh Waldo have been approved for the designation of chief fire officer. Kerley has held the designation of chief fire officer, or CFO, since 2004 and was notified that his designation has been renewed. He is required to renew his CFO designation every three years and submit a package outlining his career progress for the past three years to ensure he is continuing to work toward professional excellence through continued education, training, and community service. [Read more…]
