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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, 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.

Filed Under: Police and Fire Tagged With: Kentucky, Laurel County Sheriff's Office, Tearsha Laws, Travis Napier

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

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…]

Filed Under: Anderson County, Front Page News, Oak Ridge, Police and Fire, Top Stories Tagged With: July 4 parking lot crash, Lee Harold Cromwell, vehicular homicide

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.

Filed Under: Oak Ridge, Police and Fire Tagged With: Nixle alert, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge Police Department, ORPD

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…]

Filed Under: Anderson County, Oak Ridge, Police and Fire, Police and Fire, Slider Tagged With: aggravated assault, Anderson County, Anderson County Criminal Court, Anthony J. Craighead, fatal parking lot crash, fraudulent liens, James Robinson, James Scott, Lee Cromwell, Midtown Community Center, notice of enhancement factors, parking lot crash, Paul Summers, sentencing hearing, sentencing memorandum, Seventh Judicial District, sovereign citizen, Tom Marshall, vehicular homicide

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. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

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)

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.

Filed Under: Anderson County, Front Page News, Oak Ridge, Police and Fire Tagged With: Anderson County Criminal Court, Anderson County Sheriff's Department, Cassen Jackson-Garrison, Dave Clark, Don Elledge, Greg Isaacs, Gregory Isaacs, Kansas City Chiefs, Oak Ridge Police Department, official misconduct, ORPD, statutory rape, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, Tony Craighead, Vanderbilt University

Three adults found dead all had single gunshot wounds

Posted at 4:44 pm June 15, 2017
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

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. (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. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

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

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

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Front Page News, Oak Ridge, Police and Fire, Top Stories Tagged With: Chelsea Kessel, City of Oak Ridge, gunshot wound, Michael Deuschle, Oak Lane, Oak Ridge Police Department, Tessa Deuschle, three adults found dead

Three people found dead at home on Oak Lane

Posted at 2:38 pm June 15, 2017
By John Huotari 3 Comments

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…]

Filed Under: Front Page News, Oak Ridge, Police and Fire, Police and Fire, Slider Tagged With: Chelsea Kessel, City of Oak Ridge, Michael Deuschle, Oak Lane, Oak Ridge Police Department, Outer Drive, Tessa Deuschle

Oak Ridge police warn of ‘spoofing’ phone scam

Posted at 1:46 pm June 14, 2017
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Photo courtesy City of Oak Ridge

Photo courtesy City of Oak Ridge

 

The City of Oak Ridge and the Oak Ridge Police Department are warning of a scam telephone call that people may receive that uses a local telephone number with a 425 prefix and is titled “City of Oak Ridge.”

One of the numbers from which calls have been been received is (865) 425-1892. The calls have a recorded message that tell the person receiving the call that they have won a trip or something of value.

“This call is not from the City of Oak Ridge,” city officials said. “Rather, it is a scam which utilizes ‘spoofing’ software. Caller identification ‘spoofing’ is technology that causes the telephone network to indicate to the receiver of the call that the originator of the call is a station other than the true originating station. In other words, the software allows the caller to program the caller ID to any message or originating title.”

Again, (865) 425-1892 is not a number associated with the City of Oak Ridge. People who receive these calls should hang up immediately and ignore any recorded message from the caller, the city said.

Filed Under: Front Page News, Oak Ridge, Police and Fire, Top Stories Tagged With: City of Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge Police Department, scam telephone call, spoofing, spoofing phone scam

Elks hosts Drug Awareness Day at Oak Ridge pool on Saturday

Posted at 1:14 pm June 14, 2017
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

2017 Drug Awareness Day at the Pool (Flyer)

The Oak Ridge Chapter of the Benevolent and Protective Order of the Elks will host the Fifth Annual Drug Awareness Day at the Oak Ridge Municipal Pool at 172 Providence Road on Saturday, June 17.

Drug awareness demonstrations will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. inside the pool area, a press release said. Hundreds of prizes will be given away to those participating in a drug awareness activity. Some of the prizes include T-shirts, coloring books, swim noodles, beach balls, and Frisbees, the press release said.

This event is a partnership with Anderson County Allies for Substance Abuse Prevention, Anderson County Sheriff’s Department, Oak Ridge Recreation and Parks Department, and the Roane County Anti-Drug Coalition. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Community, Front Page News, Police and Fire Tagged With: Anderson County Allies for Substance Abuse Prevention, Anderson County Sheriff's Department, drug awareness, Drug Awareness Day, Elks, Elks Drug Awareness Program, Oak Ridge Chapter of the Benevolent and Protective Order of the Elks, Oak Ridge Municipal Pool, Oak Ridge Recreation and Parks Department, Roane County Anti-Drug Coalition

Norris Bulletin: Norris hires new police chief, separates public safety departments

Posted at 10:44 am June 14, 2017
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Information from WYSH Radio

The town of Norris will have a new police chief beginning July 3.

According to the Norris Bulletin, it was announced during the Norris City Council meeting on Monday that William “Chip” Kain has been hired to serve as Norris’s next police chief. Kain is currently chief of police in the town of Baneberry, Tennessee. Kain has previously served with the University of Tennessee Police Department and the Clinton Police Department. He also once co-hosted a sports talk show on a Knoxville radio station. He succeeds Danny Humphrey, who stepped down earlier this year.

The Bulletin also reported that the City Council voted to reorganize the city’s Public Safety Department. The reorganization will essentially create separate police and fire departments, a move that supporters say will allow members of both to be more efficiently trained and supervised. That reorganization was unanimously approved.

WYSH Radio in Clinton is an Oak Ridge Today news partner.

Filed Under: Government, Norris, Norris, Police and Fire Tagged With: Danny Humphrey, Norris, Norris Bulletin, Norris City Council, police chief, public safety department, William "Chip" Kain

Rep. Fleischmann okay after shooting at charity baseball practice

Posted at 9:15 am June 14, 2017
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Chuck Fleischmann

Chuck Fleischmann

Note: This story was updated at 10:05 a.m.

U.S. Representative Chuck Fleischmann, a Republican whose district includes Oak Ridge, is okay after a shooting that injured five people during a Wednesday morning practice for an annual charity baseball game in Alexandria, Virginia, officials said.

House Majority Whip Steve Scalise and two Capitol police officers were among those hit, according to WJLA, an ABC affiliate in Washington, D.C. The others who were shot sometime around 7:15 a.m. Wednesday reportedly included a staffer and a lobbyist. Scalise is reported to be in stable condition at George Washington University Hospital.

Conner Ingram, spokesperson for Fleischmann, said the congressman was at the practice and is okay.

“I have been told by staff that he is okay,” said Alan Beauchamp, a close friend of Fleischmann’s who has worked on his campaigns since 2009. “He is safe, from what I understand.” [Read more…]

Filed Under: Federal, Front Page News, Government, Police and Fire, Top Stories Tagged With: Alan Beauchamp, charity baseball game, Chuck Fleischmann, Conner Ingram, Jeff Flake, Knoxville News Sentinel, Mo Brooks, shooting, Steve Scalise, USA Today Network, WJLA

Motorcyclist flown to hospital after crash on Saturday night

Posted at 9:56 am June 11, 2017
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

A motorcyclist was flown to a hospital after crashing into a parked car on Highland Avenue on Saturday night, June 10, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

A motorcyclist was flown to a hospital after crashing into a parked car on Highland Avenue on Saturday night, June 10, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

A motorcyclist was flown to a hospital with non-life threatening injuries after crashing into a parked car on Highland Avenue on Saturday night, authorities said.

The crash was reported at about 9:52 p.m. Saturday near the intersection with South Hollywood Circle, and that section of Highland Avenue was briefly closed.

Although the injuries were not life threatening, the motorcyclist was flown to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville due to the nature of the trauma, Oak Ridge Police Department Lieutenant Matt Tedford said.

More information will be added as it becomes available.


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Filed Under: Front Page News, Oak Ridge, Police and Fire, Top Stories Tagged With: crash, Highland Avenue, Matt Tedford, Oak Ridge Police Department, South Hollywood Circle, University of Tennessee Medical Center

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