Oak Ridge Today

Clinton store clerk, accomplice arrested after robbery reported

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Image by Clinton Police Department

Image by Clinton Police Department

 

Clinton Police Department officers arrested a Lee’s Travel Center clerk and another man in connection with the report of an aggravated robbery of the convenience store on February 5, the CPD said in a post published on Facebook.

Reports said Justin Pennington was working at the store at 2233 North Charles G. Seivers Boulevard in Clinton when a masked man pulled out a knife and told him to open the cash register or he would stab him, the CPD said.

Clinton Police Department Investigator Sergeant Scott Gregory, after reviewing store surveillance and gathering more information, discovered that the masked man, who was identified as Jacob T. Maiden, took money from the cash register and then placed two bags of suspected narcotics on the counter and left the scene, the CPD said. [Read more…]

Pair of unrelated fires destroy houses

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Information from WYSH Radio

No one was injured, but a house on Patt Lane in Claxton was said to be a total loss after a fire on Saturday night.

An Anderson County Sheriff’s Department deputy responded to the scene and reported that the entire roof of the home was engulfed by flames and that the fire was rapidly spreading to the second floor of the structure. He also discovered the homeowner attempting to fight the fire with a water hose, and the tenant—the owner’s son—removing personal items from the burning home. Deputy Tyler Culver reported that he had to remove the younger man from the house twice as he tried to save items even as the fire spread.

Despite the best efforts of firefighters from the Claxton Volunteer Fire Department and Rural Metro, all that was left standing of the home was a pair of brick chimneys. Firefighters said that the blaze appeared to have begun in the attic, and the tenant told deputies that neither fireplace was in use at the time of the fire, and that due to ongoing renovations, he had been using electric and propane heaters as his primary heat sources. Firefighters found no traces of any accelerant or any other evidence of arson, but the exact cause of the fire is under investigation.

The homeowner did not have insurance on the property. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge dispatch switches to encrypted radio system

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Oak Ridge dispatchers and emergency workers switched to a new radio system last week that uses encrypted communications, and access is restricted to public safety employees.

That means that people who have listened to Oak Ridge police and fire communications, among other radio transmissions, on scanners and scanner apps but aren’t public safety employees such as police officers or firefighters will no longer be able to listen. That includes reporters.

“For the safety of our officers, the Police Department does not have any plans at this time to allow access to the radio system beyond public safety employees,” City of Oak Ridge spokesperson Sarah Self said in a brief statement Tuesday, January 29.

The switch was apparently made at about 1 p.m. Monday, January 28. Oak Ridge Today has not heard Oak Ridge dispatchers on the radio since then.

Oak Ridge Today asked what steps the city will take to ensure that people continue to stay informed at least about major police and fire incidents since reporters and the public will no longer be able to listen to emergency communications. [Read more…]

Mental illness & capital punishment to be discussed Tuesday

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Sarah Graham McGee

Sarah Graham McGee

 

Mental illness and capital punishment will be discussed during a lunch in Oak Ridge on Tuesday.

The speaker will be Sarah Graham McGee, statewide coordinator for the Tennessee Alliance for the Severe Mental Illness Exclusion, or TASMIE, a press release said. TASMIE is a coalition of mental health advocates and other organizations that are educating Tennesseans about their concerns with sentencing those who have severe mental illness to death, the press release said.

The program is for Lunch with the League on Tuesday, February 5. The meeting is scheduled from 11:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday in the Social Hall of the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church, which is located at 809 Oak Ridge Turnpike. [Read more…]

Tennessee Supreme Court will not hear Cromwell’s appeal

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Oak Ridge resident Lee Harold Cromwell, 68, was sentenced to 25 years in prison on 28 counts of forgery and filling fraudulent liens during a hearing in Nashville criminal court on Wednesday, June 27, 2018. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The Tennessee Supreme Court will not hear an appeal of a criminal case filed against Lee Harold Cromwell, who is now 69 and was convicted of reckless vehicular homicide in Anderson County Criminal Court two years ago after a fatal crash after fireworks in Oak Ridge in 2015. Cromwell is pictured above during a hearing in a Nashville criminal court on Wednesday, June 27, 2018, when he was sentenced to 25 years in prison in a separate case involving 28 counts of forgery and filling fraudulent liens. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The Tennessee Supreme Court will not hear an appeal of the criminal case filed against Lee Harold Cromwell, who was convicted of homicide after a fatal crash after fireworks in Oak Ridge in 2015.

Cromwell, who is now 69, had been convicted of reckless vehicular homicide and aggravated assault in Anderson County Criminal Court at the end of a three-day trial in February 2017.

But in July 2018, the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals in Knoxville said Cromwell is eligible for a new trial on the aggravated assault charges. The court cited misleading and confusing jury instructions. The aggravated assault convictions, which were reversed by the appeals court, had helped to add seven years to Cromwell’s sentence.

The court upheld Cromwell’s one conviction of reckless vehicular homicide and his five-year sentence on that charge.

In August, Cromwell appealed to the Tennessee Supreme Court. [Read more…]

Neighborhood Watch Banquet rescheduled due to weather

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The Oak Ridge Police Department has rescheduled the Neighborhood Watch Program Banquet that had been scheduled for Tuesday.

The banquet has been rescheduled due to weather, the ORPD said in a post published on Twitter.

It is now scheduled for 6 p.m. February 12 at Central Baptist Church. [Read more…]

Missing teenager found safe in Campbell County

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Image by Oak Ridge Police Department

Image by Oak Ridge Police Department

 

The Oak Ridge teenager who had been reported missing this month was safely located in Campbell County on Saturday night, police said.

The teen, Devin Davis, 17, of Oak Ridge, had been last seen on January 8, the Oak Ridge Police Department said last week. He was reported missing by his legal guardian. The ORPD asked for help locating Devin and said he could be in the Campbell County/LaFollette area.

“Thanks to all who shared this information during the search,” the ORPD said Sunday.

More information will be added as it becomes available.

Man charged with aggravated child abuse

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Brady Hutton

Brady Hutton

 

The Anderson County Grand Jury has indicted Brady Daniel Hutton, 27, on charges of aggravated child abuse and neglect after a child who is less than eight years old was reported to have had serious injuries.

Hutton was arrested at his work last week by the United States Marshals Service and taken to the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton by the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department, a press release said.

Before his arrest, the Sheriff’s Department had received a referral from the Department of Children’s Services on October 24 about a severe child abuse complaint they received from the East Tennessee Children’s Hospital staff in Knoxville, the press release said. At the hospital, Hutton was interviewed by DCS and ACSD Detective Darrell Slater, and it was determined there was enough probable cause to present the case to a grand jury, the press release said. [Read more…]

(For members) Testimony: Defendant in homicide case had planned to rob man

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The criminal homicide charge filed against Christy Viola Comer, 37, left, was sent to the Anderson County Grand Jury after a preliminary hearing in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Clinton on Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2019. At right is defense attorney Leslie Hunt. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The criminal homicide charge filed against Christy Viola Comer, 37, left, was sent to the Anderson County Grand Jury after a preliminary hearing in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Clinton on Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2019. At right is defense attorney Leslie Hunt. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The homicide charge filed against Christy Viola Comer, 37, middle, was sent to the Anderson County Grand Jury after a preliminary hearing in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Clinton on Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2019. At right is defense attorney Leslie Hunt. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

CLINTON—The defendant in a criminal homicide case in Rocky Top in August had planned to rob the 83-year-old man who died because “it would be easy,” according to court testimony Tuesday.

The body of the victim, J.C. Copeland, who has been described as a “sweet old man,” was found partially wrapped in a pink blanket underneath a porch at a mobile home on Jacksboro Avenue on August 31, according to Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Agent John Hannon. Copeland is believed to have been strangled until he died, according to court records. There was white rope around Copeland’s neck and other parts of his body, including his wrists and ankles, Hannon testified during a preliminary hearing in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Clinton on Tuesday.

Inside Copeland’s home, investigators found a fresh brown stain on the floor near his front door, white strings similar to the material found around his neck, and in one possible sign of a struggle, cigarettes on the floor, according to Hannon’s testimony. An acrylic painted press-on fingernail was found in the living room, Hannon said. It’s similar to the type of press-on fingernail that a woman might wear, Hannon said when questioned by prosecutor Emily Faye Abbott.

Outside the home, Copeland’s vehicle was missing.

The rest of this story, which you will find only on Oak Ridge Today, is available if you are a member: a subscriber, advertiser, or recent contributor to Oak Ridge Today. 

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Updated: No impact on local investigations, but FBI agents working without pay

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Note: This story was updated at 11:30 a.m. Jan. 24.

Local law enforcement officers haven’t noticed an impact on investigations or criminal proceedings from the partial shutdown of the federal government, but agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which has helped investigate crimes in Oak Ridge, are working without pay.

The shutdown is in its 33rd day, and it is the longest ever. It began Saturday, December 22, and it affects about 25 percent of the U.S. government, including the departments of Homeland Security and Justice, among other federal agencies. The shutdown hinges on a dispute between President Donald Trump and Democrats in Congress over whether to spend $5.7 billion to build a wall on the border with Mexico.

On Wednesday, the Oak Ridge Police Department said it has not observed any impact from the partial government shutdown, and the ORPD continues to work with its federal partners. Besides the FBI, the ORPD also works with, for example, the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Seventh Judicial District Attorney General Dave Clark said he is not aware of any impact at this time, including on investigations or criminal proceedings. Clark said he just met with the Anderson County sheriff and the county’s police chiefs on Tuesday, and “there was no mention of anyone experiencing issues.” [Read more…]

ORPD asks for help finding missing teen

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Image via Oak Ridge Police Department

Image via Oak Ridge Police Department

 

The Oak Ridge Police Department is asking for the public’s help to find a missing teenager.

The teen, Devin Davis, 17, of Oak Ridge, was last seen on January 8, the ORPD said. He was reported missing by his legal guardian.

If you have seen Devin or have information about where he might be, you are asked to call the Oak Ridge Police Department at (865) 425-4399.

Police say Devin may be in the Campbell County/LaFollette area.

More information will be added as it becomes available.

Updated: One person dies in mobile home fire

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Note: This story was updated at 9:30 p.m. Jan. 26.

Information from WYSH Radio

The Clinton Fire Department said one person died in a Monday evening fire at a home in Lakefront Mobile Home Park.

The fire was reported shortly after 7:15 p.m., and crews remained at the home until about 11 p.m.

The fire killed Harold Bray, 64. [Read more…]