Oak Ridge Today

Updated: Oliver Springs resident dies in collision with truck

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Note: This story was updated at 11:15 a.m. Jan. 22.

Information from WYSH Radio

A head-on collision involving a tractor-trailer in Oliver Springs on Sunday night killed one person and shut down Highway 61 leading into Oliver Springs for about 22 hours while crews cleaned up debris.

The Oliver Springs Police Department said that the fatal crash happened when a tractor-trailer dump truck was struck head-on by a car that crossed over the center line. The collision sent the tractor-trailer off the road and down an embankment, where it overturned and spilled diesel fuel and its cargo of sand. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge firefighter named Roane State Paramedic Student of the Year

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Roane State paramedic program director David Blevins, left, and Dr. Todd Heffern with TEAMHealth, right, congratulate Brandon Payne of Oak Ridge, Roane State’s Paramedic Student of the Year. (Submitted photo)

Roane State paramedic program director David Blevins, left, and Dr. Todd Heffern with TEAMHealth, right, congratulate Brandon Payne of Oak Ridge, Roane State’s Paramedic Student of the Year. (Submitted photo)

 

By Bob Fowler, Roane State staff writer

An Oak Ridge Fire Department captain has been elected by his peers as Roane State Community College’s Paramedic Student of the Year.

Brandon Payne, 40, an Oak Ridge firefighter since 2007, received the tribute during a luncheon last year that continues a longstanding tradition of honoring graduating paramedic students.

TEAMHealth, a hospital staffing firm based in Knoxville, sponsored the luncheon for paramedic students who were in the spring semester cohort.

“It was challenging,” Payne said of the three-semester program to obtain certification as a paramedic. “There was a lot of information in a short amount of time.” [Read more…]

CFD: House a ‘complete loss’ after early morning fire

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Information from WYSH Radio

An early Thursday morning fire destroyed a home on Sunset Lane near its intersection with Douglas Lane, according to the Clinton Fire Department.

The blaze was reported shortly before 2 a.m., and firefighters remained on the scene for about four hours. Fire Chief Archie Brummitt described the structure as a “complete loss.” Brummitt also said that the homeowner was treated at the scene for possible smoke inhalation, but did not require a trip to the hospital. [Read more…]

TBI investigating jail death

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Information from WYSH Radio

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is investigating the death of an inmate at the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton.

Here is what TBI spokesperson Leslie Earhart said: “At the request of Seventh District Attorney General Dave Clark, TBI special agents are investigating the apparent hanging death of an inmate at the Anderson County jail. On Wednesday, January 9, 24-year-old Michael Allen Matlock was found unresponsive in his cell. The investigation remains active and ongoing.” [Read more…]

Three small brush fires reported in Briceville

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Information from WYSH Radio

The Anderson County Sheriff’s Department was called to a section of New River Highway in Briceville on Friday night after someone reported small brush fires along the side of the road.

A responding deputy located three small brush fires in the 6700 block of New River Highway, which he described as “moving uphill at a slow pace.” No structures, power poles, or any other property were threatened by the fires, which were extinguished by the Briceville Volunteer Fire Department. [Read more…]

Mobile home fire under investigation

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Information from WYSH Radio

No people were injured, but a dog died in a Friday afternoon mobile home fire in Claxton.

The fire at the home on Dennis Lane was reported shortly before 5 p.m. Friday. When Claxton Volunteer Fire Department firefighters arrived, they reported that flames had engulfed about half of the structure.

Firefighters from not only Claxton, but also the Andersonville, Marlow, and Medford Volunteer Fire Departments—as well as crews from the Norris, Rocky Top, and Rural Metro fire departments—battled the blaze, which required additional water to be brought to the scene after the first tanker went dry. [Read more…]

(For members) Five ORPD officers injured in fight with defendant

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Oak Ridge Police Department Badge

Five Oak Ridge Police Department officers were injured in a fight with a defendant on Saturday, a man was held against his will by the defendant, and officers used a Taser on the defendant more than once, police said.

Oak Ridge Police Department Badge

Five Oak Ridge Police Department officers were injured in a fight with a defendant on Saturday, a man was held against his will by the defendant, and officers used a Taser on the defendant more than once, police said.

The 39-year-old defendant is now charged with five counts of aggravated assault on an officer and aggravated kidnapping, among other charges.

It’s not the first time the man has been accused of assaulting a police officer. In September, he pleaded guilty to assaulting a police officer in a previous case.

The rest of this story, which required additional research, is available if you are a member: a subscriber, advertiser, or recent contributor to Oak Ridge Today. 

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CTF finds about 10 grams of suspected heroin in second search of home

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James William Donald

James William Donald

 

Law enforcement officers found about 10 grams of suspected heroin in their second search of a home on West Outer Drive in less than two years.

The defendant, James William Donald, 71, told Seventh Judicial District Crime Task Force Agent Kenneth Woods that he would “take money from other individuals for the purchase of heroin as well as provide heroin to friends that would visit his residence,” according to arrest warrants filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge in December.

The home on West Outer Drive is within about 75 feet of the Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge, according to the warrants.

The most recent search by the Crime Task Force occurred on Thursday, December 20. The CTF had a search warrant to seize all controlled substances, the warrants said. [Read more…]

Homicide case ends when defendant dies

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Christy-Duncan-Memorial-Oak-Ridge-Turnpike-May-10-2016

A vehicular homicide case that started with a fatal traffic crash at Oak Ridge Turnpike and Jefferson Avenue in May 2016 ended when the defendant, Vickie Gay Gilmore, died in 2018. A memorial to Christy Duncan, the woman who died in the three-vehicle crash, was set up on Mother’s Day, Sunday, May 8, 2016. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

A vehicular homicide case that started with a fatal traffic crash in Oak Ridge ended when the defendant died.

The case against Vickie Gay Gilmore, 64, had been pending in Anderson County Criminal Court in Clinton. In July, another evaluation was ordered at the Moccasin Bend Mental Health Institute in Chattanooga. Gilmore was to be evaluated for her competency to stand trial and her mental condition at the time of the crime (the insanity defense). She had been found to be capable of adequately helping in her defense in an earlier evaluation at Moccasin Bend in 2016, but a later evaluation by a doctor produced contrary findings, according to an April 2018 order for a new competency evaluation.

The new evaluation order in July was stayed, or delayed, in September because of Gilmore’s deteriorating health and her inability to travel.

The charges against her were dismissed in a judgement dated October 9 and filed in November. [Read more…]

Morgan County officers break up large underage drinking party in ‘The Cove’

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Information from WYSH Radio

The Morgan County Sheriff’s Office and several other agencies responded to a New Year’s Eve party where underage teen drinking and drug use were occurring early on New Year’s Day, and deputies said several partygoers needed medical attention.

In a press release, Morgan County Sheriff’s Office Captain Mike Wren said Morgan County dispatchers had received a call transferred from the Anderson County 911 Center at around 1:30 a.m. Tuesday in which someone reported a “large number of teenagers drinking and using drugs at remote property in ‘The Cove,’ a community located near Oliver Springs, just inside the Morgan County line.”

Sheriff Wayne Potter and several deputies responded to the location on Cove Lane, and they saw 15 to 20 people immediately run off into the woods. Another 25 to 30 people were found in what was described as an “open structure” on the property.

Officers immediately noticed that the majority of them were impaired and that there were numerous containers of alcohol also in the structure. Four people were immediately taken by ambulance to a hospital, including an unconscious 14-year-old girl and a 16-year-old boy who was in “physical distress.” [Read more…]

Family escapes after kitchen fire spreads to attic

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An Oak Ridge family, including two children, were able to escape safely when a kitchen fire spread to an attic on Bunker Lane on Wednesday night, Jan. 2, 2019, firefighters said. (Photo by Tom Scott/Oak Ridge Fire Department)

An Oak Ridge family, including two children, were able to escape safely when a kitchen fire spread to an attic on Bunker Lane on Wednesday night, Jan. 2, 2019, firefighters said. (Photo by Tom Scott/Oak Ridge Fire Department)

 

An Oak Ridge family, including two children, were able to escape safely when a kitchen fire spread to an attic on Bunker Lane on Wednesday, firefighters said.

The fire was reported just after 10 p.m. on Wednesday, January 2.

The residents said they were cooking on the stove when a pan of grease caught fire, the Oak Ridge Fire Department said. The residents were able to slow the spread of the fire with an extinguisher, but flames quickly extended through the stove hood and into the attic, the ORFD said. [Read more…]

Affidavit: Clinton man shot at two people before being shot

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Terry Lee Crawford

Terry Lee Crawford

 

Note: This story was updated at 3:20 p.m.

The man shot in Clinton last week had first shot at two people before one of them, his son, shot back, according to police and an arrest warrant filed last week.

The warrant includes an affidavit, which is a brief description of an alleged crime. It alleged that Terry Lee Crawford, 61, who was arrested Monday, had shot at Joshua and Ashlee Crawford before Joshua Crawford shot back.

The shooting last week was reported at about 4:42 p.m. Wednesday, December 26, near the intersection of Lee Lane and State Route 61, which connects Oak Ridge and Clinton. Lee Lane is near a gas station and convenience store and the entrance to the Mariner Point residential subdivision.

At the time of the shooting, according to the affidavit, Joshua and Ashlee Crawford were in their house on Lee Lane when they heard gun shots, which sounded very close to their home. [Read more…]