Oak Ridge Today

Woman charged with aggravated kidnapping

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

An Oak Ridge woman has been charged with aggravated kidnapping after she allegedly closed a door on a Clinton woman attempting to leave a North Jefferson Circle home during a “verbal disturbance” last week, and struck the woman around the neck and face, authorities said.

Brittany L. Hagen, 25, reportedly went to the North Jefferson Circle home at about 5 p.m. Friday, Dec. 28, and contacted a resident about the child they had together, according to an affidavit filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court. The man allegedly told Hagen she needed to leave, but she did not, the affidavit said.

[Read more…]

Y-12 security breach top story of 2012 on Oak Ridge Today

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Transform Now Plowshares

The three anti-nuclear weapons activists pictured above allegedly cut through fences and vandalized a high-security building at the Y-12 National Security Complex in July and now face federal charges of property destruction, property depredation, and injuring national defense premises. From left to right the three are Michael R. Walli, Megan Rice, and Greg Boertje-Obed. (Submitted photo)

Four of the Top 5 stories on Oak Ridge Today in 2012 were related to the July 28 security breach at the Y-12 National Security Complex.

Of those four, the most viewed—and also our most viewed story of the year—was the one we wrote the day of the intrusion: Y-12 protesters enter high-security area, spray paint, splash blood. That’s when three anti-nuclear weapons activists allegedly hiked over Pine Ridge, cut through fences, and splashed human blood and spray-painted slogans on the Highly Enriched Uranium Materials Facility, where bomb-grade uranium is stored.

Other stories related to the security breach that ended up in the Top 5 were:

[Read more…]

Two alleged Christmas shopping robberies this month

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

The alleged robbery and assault reported to Oak Ridge police on Saturday was the second time this month someone reported they were robbed while Christmas shopping and would not be able to identify a suspect.

On Saturday, a 32-year-old Knoxville man told police he was assaulted and robbed of $300 while Christmas shopping for his children, but lost consciousness during the alleged assault and couldn’t remember where or how it occurred.

Earlier this month, a 34-year-old Hillside Road man reported he was robbed of about $700 in cash in Shoney’s restaurant parking lot while Christmas shopping with a female friend. The man said he was counting his cash in the parking lot, making sure he had enough money for lunch, when a woman walked up to him, took his cash, and fled in a gold Cadillac down Tulsa Road, an Oak Ridge Police Department report said.

[Read more…]

Man shopping for Elmo doll for son says he was assaulted, robbed

Posted at
By 3 Comments

A Knoxville man shopping for an Elmo doll for his son for Christmas said he was assaulted and robbed of $300, but he told Oak Ridge police he lost consciousness during the alleged assault and couldn’t remember where or how it occurred.

The 32-year-old man also could not explain a wet, blue towel in his truck with blood on it, an Oak Ridge Police Department report said.

The man reportedly drove himself to Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge with broken cheek bones after the alleged Saturday evening assault and robbery. He also had a red, swollen face; cuts and abrasions on his face and head; two large knots on the back of his head; a busted, bleeding lip; a one-inch cut above his right eye; purple marks on his face—and what appeared to be a shoe tread on the left side of his face, the police report said.

[Read more…]

Police dog finds man’s missing gun on Robertsville soccer field

Posted at
By 2 Comments

An Oak Ridge police dog located a missing revolver in the grass on a soccer field at Robertsville Middle School early Friday morning, authorities said.

Leshawn Graham, 21, of Royce Circle in Oak Ridge, told police he had laid the gun down in the soccer field but could not find it, according to warrants filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court.

[Read more…]

Former Medford fire chief dies in single-vehicle accident in Oak Ridge Turnpike

Posted at
By 1 Comment

Oak Ridge Turnpike Fatal Accident

A Lake City man died Wednesday evening during a single-vehicle accident on Oak Ridge Turnpike near Elza Drive. Braden’s pickup truck went down an embankment and hit a tree, but his passenger survived. (Photos by Tom Scott)

A Lake City man who was also a former volunteer fire chief in Medford died during a single-vehicle accident on Oak Ridge Turnpike near Elza Drive at about 4:46 p.m. Wednesday, authorities said.

Ronnie L. Braden, 62, was driving a black 2001 Ford pickup that went 15 feet down an embankment and into a tree, according to an Oak Ridge Fire Department report.

Rescuers said Braden had been complaining of chest pains before the accident.

In a statement Thursday afternoon, the Oak Ridge Police Department said Braden was declared dead at the scene by Anderson County Emergency Medical Services.

[Read more…]

Eight-point buck, three-car collision, two injuries on Christmas Eve

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Toyota Scion at Oak Ridge Turnpike at Wiltshire Drive

Three cars collided on Oak Ridge Turnpike on Christmas Eve, injuring two people, after two vehicles stopped for an injured deer in the eastbound lanes. (Photos by Tom Scott)

Two people were injured in a three-car collision on Oak Ridge Turnpike on Christmas Eve after two vehicles stopped in the eastbound lanes for a deer in the roadway and a third vehicle hit the first two.

The 6:55 p.m. accident occurred just east of Wiltshire Drive. A 2007 Lexus car driven by Paula Arlene Flowers, 44, of Oak Ridge, and a 1993 Nissan pickup driven by Bryan Keith Roberts, 42, of Clinton, had stopped for an eight-point buck that had reportedly been hit in the westbound lanes of Oak Ridge Turnpike and staggered across to the eastbound lanes.

[Read more…]

Report: Subway robbed Saturday

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

The Subway restaurant in west Oak Ridge was allegedly robbed on Saturday night, authorities said.

An unknown man wearing a denim jacket with a grey hood and gray sleeves allegedly robbed the store on Oak Ridge Turnpike at about 8:30 p.m. Saturday, taking $421.64, according to an Oak Ridge Police Department report and Oak Ridge Police Lt. Robin Smith.

Smith said the suspect did not display a weapon.

More information will be added as it becomes available.

Driver says he swerved to avoid deer, hit parked car

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Ford Taurus in Robertsville Road Accident

A Kentucky man said he had swerved to avoid a deer on Robertsville Road early Saturday morning when his Ford Taurus hit a parked GMC Sonoma. (Photo by Tom Scott)

About 20 minutes after a rollover accident on Robertsville Road early Saturday morning, police responded to a second collision.

The driver in the second wreck, Joshua Whaley, 25, of Florence, Ky., told police he had swerved to avoid a deer while driving westbound on Robertsville Road when his Ford Taurus struck a GMC Sonoma parked in on-street parking, an Oak Ridge Police Department report said.

[Read more…]

Oliver Springs man stable at UT hospital after car rolls over, ejects him

Posted at
By 2 Comments

Robertsville Road Rollover Accident

An Oliver Springs man remained in stable condition at the University of Tennessee Medical Center on Wednesday after being ejected from a Cadillac SRX on Robertsville Road early Saturday morning. (Photos by Tom Scott)

An Oliver Springs man was in stable condition at the University of Tennessee Medical Center on Wednesday evening after being ejected from a vehicle that overturned on Robertsville Road early Saturday morning, authorities said.

Jared M. Coker, 25, was westbound on Robertsville Road in a Cadillac SRX just west of Bermuda Road at about 3:20 a.m. Saturday when he veered right into on-street parking, striking an unoccupied Chrysler sedan.

[Read more…]

Anderson County Commission planning to audit Andersonville Fire Department

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Information from WYSH Radio

Last week, the Anderson County Commission voted to get the ball rolling on an audit of the Andersonville Volunteer Fire Department.

Earlier this year, the department announced it was switching to a subscription-based service due to a lack of funds so severe, officials said, that the AVFD might have to close without the subscription plan.

The county has a 40-year lease with the AVFD for the land where the new Belmont Fire Station is being built, and part of the lease agreement calls for the department to be audited each year. The matter was referred to the Commission’s audit and budget committees for consideration and further discussion.

[Read more…]

Alleged serial bank robber apprehended

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Information from WYSH Radio

Law enforcement officials announced Thursday that a suspected serial bank robber was apprehended minutes after allegedly holding up a bank in Alcoa.

Gerald Hytken of Lenoir City, 79, is suspected of robbing four banks in the past two years and is facing federal charges for, among other things, allegedly robbing an Oak Ridge bank last year.

[Read more…]