Police and Fire Archives - Page 57 of 208

Neighborhood Watch has fundraiser at Pizza Inn on Thursday

Posted at 10:21 pm June 28, 2017
By Joana Springmier Leave a Comment

The Oak Ridge Neighborhood Watch Program is having a fundraiser at Pizza Inn on Thursday, June 29, from 5-8 p.m.

Oak Ridge Neighborhood Watch Program is a self-funded organization promoting crime prevention and safety in Oak Ridge neighborhoods, a press release said.

The Thursday fundraiser at Pizza Inn is the primary fundraiser for 2017, the press release said. It will help sponsor events and efforts to provide important information to the community. Oak Ridge Neighborhood Watch Program gets a percentage of sales during the Thursday evening event, the press release said.

“We look forward to seeing you on June 29,” the press release said.

Kentucky sheriff’s office investigating death of Oak Ridge woman

Posted at 11:50 pm June 27, 2017
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

The Laurel County Sheriff’s Office in Kentucky is investigating the death of an Oak Ridge woman, Tearsha Laws, 28, who was found in a wooded area over an embankment on Monday evening, June 26, 2017. Pictured above photographing the scene is Deputy Travis Napier. (Photo by Laurel County Sheriff’s Office)

The Laurel County Sheriff’s Office in Kentucky is investigating the death of an Oak Ridge woman, authorities said.

Tearsha Laws, 28, was found in a wooded area over an embankment on Monday evening, authorities said. Her body was found about six miles north of London, Kentucky, at 4:58 p.m. Monday, the Laurel County Sheriff’s Office said.

Laws was identified Tuesday morning.

London, Kentucky, is near Interstate 75, north of the Kentucky-Tennessee border and south of Lexington.

More information will be added as it becomes available.

Cromwell sentenced to 12 years in fatal July 4 parking lot crash

Posted at 6:15 pm June 19, 2017
By John Huotari 1 Comment

Lee Harold Cromwell, 67, the Oak Ridge man convicted of vehicular homicide in a fatal parking lot crash at Midtown Community Center after July 4 fireworks two years ago, was sentenced to 12 years in prison during a hearing in Anderson County Criminal Court on Monday, June 19, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Note: This story was last updated at 8:20 p.m.

CLINTON—Lee Harold Cromwell, 67, the Oak Ridge man convicted of vehicular homicide in a fatal parking lot crash at Midtown Community Center after July 4 fireworks two years ago, was sentenced to 12 years in prison on Monday.

Cromwell—a self-proclaimed sovereign citizen driving on a suspended license, according to court records and testimony—was actually sentenced in nine separate cases. He had been convicted on all nine counts at the end of a three-day trial in Anderson County Criminal Court in Clinton in February. Besides reckless vehicular homicide, the nine convictions included eight counts of aggravated assault.

Senior Judge Paul Summers of Nashville announced the effective 12-year sentence at the end of a roughly four-hour sentencing hearing in Anderson County Criminal Court in Clinton on Monday afternoon.

The convictions had been split into three groups. The first group included the reckless vehicular homicide conviction, which was filed over the death of James Robinson, who died pushing his two young daughters to safety as Cromwell backed his Dodge Ram pickup truck through the crowded parking lot of Midtown Community Center on July 4, 2015. Witnesses said Cromwell backed up at a high rate of speed. That first group of convictions also included three aggravated assault convictions for injuries to James Robinson’s wife, Julia Robinson, and their two young daughters, now 11 and nine. Cromwell received an effective five-year sentence for those first four convictions.

Cromwell received an effective four-year sentence for aggravated assault convictions for injuries to two other victims (the second group) and an effective three-year sentence for aggravated assault convictions for injuries to three other victims (the third group).

The three groups of sentences are to be served consecutively for a total of 12 years (five years for the first group of convictions, four years for the second, and three years for the third).

[Read more…]

Updated: Three missing boys found, safe

Posted at 9:06 pm June 17, 2017
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Note: This story was updated at 9:25 a.m. June 18.

Updated: The three boys reported missing on Saturday have been found, and they are safe, the Oak Ridge Police Department said early Sunday.

The three boys had been reported missing from west Oak Ridge around 4 p.m. Saturday. They had been reported to have left on foot.

The ORPD reported they had been found safe in a Nixle alert at 2:14 a.m. Sunday.

More information will be added as it becomes available.

Defense asks for three-year suspended sentence for Cromwell

Posted at 12:12 pm June 17, 2017
By John Huotari 2 Comments

Lee Harold Cromwell, 68, of Oak Ridge, has been charged with vehicular homicide and eight counts of aggravated assault in a fatal parking lot crash at the Midtown Community Center in Oak Ridge after fireworks on July 4, 2015. Cromwell has been on trial in Anderson County Criminal Court in Clinton, starting Monday, Feb. 13, 2017, and continuing through Wednesday, Feb. 15. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Prosecutors have asked for an 11-year sentence for Lee Harold Cromwell, 67, of Oak Ridge, for his one vehicular homicide conviction and eight aggravated assault convictions in a fatal parking lot crash at the Midtown Community Center in Oak Ridge after fireworks on July 4, 2015. His defense attorney has asked for a three-year suspended sentence. Cromwell is pictured above during a three-day trial from Feb. 13-15, 2017, in Anderson County Criminal Court in Clinton. He has a sentencing hearing scheduled for Monday, June 19. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Note: This story was updated at 5:20 p.m.

CLINTON—A public defender has asked for a three-year suspended sentence for Lee Cromwell, the Oak Ridge man convicted of one count of vehicular homicide and eight counts of aggravated assault in the fatal parking lot crash at Midtown Community Center after fireworks on July 4, 2015.

The three-year suspended sentence would be much less than what prosecutors have requested, an effective 11-year sentence.

Cromwell, 67, has a sentencing hearing scheduled with Senior Judge Paul Summers in Anderson County Criminal Court in Clinton at 1 p.m. Monday, June 19.

The July 4 fireworks crash killed James Robinson of Knoxville, a 37-year-old husband and father who was trying to push his two daughters to safety. The crash injured eight others. It’s one of the worst crashes anyone can remember in Oak Ridge.

Cromwell was convicted of the vehicular homicide and aggravated assault charges after a three-day trial in Anderson County Criminal Court in Clinton in February. His initial sentencing hearing was postponed because Cromwell did not want private attorney James Scott representing him anymore. Anderson County Public Defender Tom Marshall has been appointed instead. Scott had previously filed a motion to withdraw from the case and then renewed it during an April 11 hearing, citing irreconcilable differences with Cromwell, according to court records.

In April, Deputy District Attorney General Anthony J. Craighead of the Seventh Judicial District in Anderson County asked for the effective 11-year sentence to be served in a state prison. Craighead asked for that sentence in a notice of enhancement factors that was filed in Anderson County Criminal Court. [Read more…]

Former officer, football player reaches plea agreement in statutory rape case

Posted at 1:40 pm June 16, 2017
By John Huotari 1 Comment

Cassen Jackson-Garrison, a former police officer and professional football player, has agreed to plead guilty to statutory rape and official misconduct, and he will be sentenced to two years of supervised probation, officials said this week. Jackson-Garrison is pictured above standing at right during a plea agreement hearing in Anderson County Criminal Court on Monday, June 12, 2017. At left is his attorney Greg Isaacs of Knoxville. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

CLINTON—Cassen Jackson-Garrison, a former police officer and professional football player, has agreed to plead guilty to statutory rape and official misconduct, and he will be sentenced to two years of supervised probation, officials said this week.

Jackson-Garrison, 32, had a plea agreement hearing in Anderson County Criminal Court in Clinton on Monday. He is a former Oak Ridge Police Department officer who once played football for Vanderbilt University and the Kansas City Chiefs.

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Cassen Jackson-Garrison, a former police officer and professional football player, has agreed to plead guilty to statutory rape and official misconduct, and he will be sentenced to two years of supervised probation, officials said this week. Jackson-Garrison is pictured above standing at right during a plea agreement hearing in Anderson County Criminal Court in Clinton on Monday, June 12, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

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

Already a member? Great! Thank you! Sign in here.

Not a member? No problem! Subscribe here:

Basic

Pro

Temporary

Temporary access ($3 per week for two weeks)

If you prefer to send a check, you may do so by mailing one to:

Oak Ridge Today
P.O. Box 6064
Oak Ridge, TN 37831

We also have advanced subscription options. You can see them here.

We also accept donations. You can donate here. A donation of $50 or more will make you eligible for a subscription.

Thank you for reading Oak Ridge Today. We appreciate your support!

Three people were found dead at a home on Oak Lane in north Oak Ridge on Thursday morning, June 15, 2017, authorities said. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Three people were found dead at a home on Oak Lane in north Oak Ridge on Thursday morning, June 15, 2017, authorities said. Above, the Oak Ridge Police Department investigates Thursday afternoon. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Note: This story was last updated at 10:15 a.m. June 16.

Updated story:

The three adults found dead on Oak Lane on Thursday morning each had a single gunshot wound, authorities said.

The three were found dead during a welfare check at 101 Oak Lane at about 8:03 a.m. Thursday. They have been identified as:

Michael Deuschle, age 49
Tessa Deuschle, age 43
Chelsea Kessel, age 24

The city said a preliminary investigation leads officers to believe that the females were shot first at close range, and then the man shot himself.

Detectives with the Oak Ridge Police Department believe this to be an isolated incident, and citizens do not need to be alarmed, the City of Oak Ridge said in a press release. Officers do not believe there are any additional victims in this case. The investigation is ongoing.

Oak Lane is off Outer Drive near California Avenue in north Oak Ridge. [Read more…]