Oak Ridge Today

Officials to report on multi-county criminal investigation on Monday

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Dave Clark

Dave Clark

Note: This story was updated at 5:48 p.m.

Local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies will report on Monday on a multi-county criminal investigation that has lasted several years, authorities said Thursday.

The investigation has been complex and is unprecedented in several ways, according to a brief statement on Thursday afternoon from Dave Clark, district attorney general in the Seventh Judicial District (Anderson County).

Media have been invited to attend the Monday afternoon press conference in Clark’s office in Clinton. [Read more…]

Updated: TBI issues Amber Alert for 9-year-old in East Tennessee

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TBI Endangered Child Alert Rogersville

Image by Tennessee Bureau of Investigation

 

Note: This story was updated at 10:52 a.m.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has issued an Amber Alert in East Tennessee and Middle Tennessee for 9-year-old Carlie Trent. The Amber Alert was issued on behalf of the Rogersville Police Department.

The TBI initially issued an Endangered Child Alert but has since upgraded the alert to help find the missing child.

Carlie was removed from school Wednesday by her uncle by marriage, Gary Simpson, under false pretenses, the TBI said. He has no custodial rights to Carlie, authorities said. Warrants have been issued for Simpson for kidnapping, the TBI said.

Authorities don’t know the current location of Simpson and Carlie Trent.

Carlie is 4’8″ and she weighs 75 pounds. She has blonde hair and blue eyes. She was last seen wearing a black and gray tank top shirt with blue jeans. [Read more…]

Reward offered in Coalfield murder of Vietnam vet who retired from Boeing, B&W

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Jerry Pete McCarroll

Jerry “Pete” McCarroll. Photo via Facebook/BBB-TV

Family and friends are offering a $10,000 reward for specific information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or people responsible for the death of Jerry “Pete” McCarroll, a Vietnam veteran and cancer survivor who was retired from Boeing and B&W Clinch River in Oak Ridge, authorities said.

McCarroll was found murdered on April 18 outside of Allied Metal Recovery and Refining on Gouge Hollow Road in the Coalfield area of Morgan County, according to the Office of the District Attorney General in the Ninth Judicial District, which includes Loudon, Meigs, Morgan, and Roane counties.

McCarroll worked at Allied Metal Recovery and Refining, a press release said. His body was found at 6:30 a.m. Monday, April 18, and he had been beaten and shot, the press release said. McCarroll was known to carry cash, and the motive may have been robbery, authorities said. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge Fire Department recognized as organization of year at fire instructors conference

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ORFD Jody Durham and ISFSI Steve Pegram

Oak Ridge Fire Department Assistant Chief Jody Durham, left, accepts an Organization of the Year award on behalf of the ORFD from International Society of Fire Service Instructors President Steve Pegram, at the 2016 ISFSI Conference. (Submitted photo)

 

The Oak Ridge Fire Department was recently presented with the Organization of the Year Award by the International Society of Fire Service Instructors at the 2016 Fire Department Instructors Conference in Indianapolis.

Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson announced the award on Monday.

The award was presented in recognition of the significant contributions the Oak Ridge Fire Department made as a co-host of the 2015 International Conference last year, a press release said. There were more than 300 fire instructors from several different nations that attended the conference in East Tennessee last October. The Oak Ridge Fire Department provided equipment, staff, and logistical coordination for the conference.

That was the first time the ISFSI International Conference had been hosted in Tennessee, but after the success of last year’s conference the ISFSI is considering returning to Tennessee in the upcoming years, the press release said.

This press release was submitted by the City of Oak Ridge.

Copyright 2016 Oak Ridge Today. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Jury selection starts this week in first-degree murder, death penalty case

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Norman Lee Follis

Norman Lee Follis

A jury will be selected this week in the trial of a man facing first-degree murder charges in the death of his 79-year-old uncle, whose body was found hidden underneath an apartment staircase in Claxton in 2012, authorities said.

Jury selection in the trial of Norman Lee Follis Jr., 52, is scheduled for Wednesday through Friday this week, and the trial is scheduled to continue on Monday, May 9, in Anderson County Criminal and Circuit Court in Clinton. Three days have been scheduled for the trial next week, although court officials said it’s possible that more time could be needed.

The state is seeking the death penalty against Follis and Tammy Sue Chapman, 47, who has also been charged with first-degree murder. The pair is accused of killing Sammie J. Adams, 79, who was Follis’ uncle, sometime between December 5, 2011, and January 24, 2012. Adams’ body was found under a stairwell in his home after friends and neighbors reported that they hadn’t seen him in a while, Anderson County District Attorney General Dave Clark said in an August 2014 press release.

Adams’ age—he was over 70—was an aggravating factor leading to the death penalty request, Clark said.

It’s the first death penalty case in Anderson County in decades. Deputy District Attorney General Tony Craighead and Assistant DA Emily Abbott will prosecute the case.

Follis is represented by defense attorneys Mart S. Cizek and Wesley D. Stone. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge Neighborhood Watch has fundraiser at Pie Five Pizza on Thursday

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The Oak Ridge Neighborhood Watch Program has a fundraiser at Pie Five Pizza on Thursday, May 5.

$2 per pizza pie, with beverage, will be donated to the Oak Ridge Neighborhood Watch Program.

The fundraiser is scheduled from 5-8 p.m. Thursday.

Pie Five Pizza is at 441 South Illinois Avenue.

Joana Springmeier is a contributor to Oak Ridge Today.

Driver allegedly runs red light, causes five-vehicle crash that injures one

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Three-Vehicles-at-Oak-Ridge-Turnpike-Crash-April-30-2016

A driver who allegedly ran a red light at the intersection of Oak Ridge Turnpike and New York Avenue caused a five-vehicle crash that injured one person on Saturday afternoon, April 30, 2016, authorities said. Three of the crashed vehicles are pictured above. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was updated at 1:15 p.m. May 2.

A driver who allegedly ran a red light caused a five-vehicle chain-reaction crash on Oak Ridge Turnpike that injured one person on Saturday afternoon, authorities said.

The crash was reported at about 2:11 p.m. Saturday at the intersection of Oak Ridge Turnpike and New York Avenue/Lafayette Drive.

A westbound pickup truck allegedly ran a red light and caused the chain-reaction crash, authorities said.

The one person injured had minor injuries, according to emergency personnel. Also, one of the drivers who was involved said he thought his shoulder might be injured. [Read more…]

Today: ASAP helps ORPD, CPD take back expired, unwanted prescription drugs

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You can dispose of potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs today in Oak Ridge and Clinton.

The National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, April 30, at the Oak Ridge Police Department and Clinton Police Department. Allies for Substance Abuse Prevention of Anderson County and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration are helping with the event.

It’s the 11th time in six years that an event like this has been held, a press release said.

You can bring your pills for disposal to the ORPD at 200 South Tulane Avenue in Oak Ridge or to the Clinton Police Department at 125 West Broad Street in Clinton. The DEA cannot accept liquids, needles, or sharps, only pills or patches. The service is free and anonymous. No questions will be asked, the press release said. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge man accused of assaulting two women, one with metal rod

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Jacob Lynn Rutherford

Jacob Lynn Rutherford

 

Note: This story was updated at 8:15 a.m. April 30.

An Oak Ridge man is accused of assaulting two women in two separate incidents, and he allegedly used a metal rod in one of the beatings, authorities said. Jacob Lynn Rutherford, 21, is also accused of hitting one of the women in the head with a gun and forcing her into his vehicle at gunpoint, according to arrest warrants.

Rutherford has been charged with attempted second-degree murder, especially aggravated kidnapping, aggravated assault, and assault, according to the warrants, which were filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court.

The first alleged assault occurred on February 25 and the second on April 28, the warrants said. Police responded to both alleged assaults at 101 Locust Lane, where Rutherford lives.

In the first case, Oak Ridge Police Department Officer Kenneth Prickett said the victim, a Powell woman, showed signs of bruising around her right eye and blood around her nose.

“(She) also showed bruising around her right wrist and swelling in her right hand,” Prickett said in an arrest warrant. [Read more…]

Driver charged in two-vehicle crash that injured three on Thursday

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Clinton-Highway-Crash-April-28-2016

Three people were injured in a two-vehicle crash on Clinton Highway at Mehaffey Road at about 5:27 p.m. Thursday, April 28, 2016. The vehicles included the Jeep Grand Cherokee pictured at left center and the Eagle Vision that is partially obscured behind an emergency vehicle at right. The driver of the Eagle has been charged by the THP. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

CLAXTON—A Knoxville man was charged with vehicular assault and driving under the influence after a two-vehicle crash injured three people on Clinton Highway on Thursday, authorities said.

Scott Gray, 26, of Knoxville, also faces eight more charges that allege additional violations: open container, simple possession of Schedule IV drugs, drug paraphernalia, due care, improper turn, failure to yield, financial responsibility, and a registration violation, according to the Tennessee Highway Patrol, which investigated the crash. The DUI offense is a second offense, according to a THP preliminary crash report.

The THP responded to the crash on Clinton Highway at Mehaffey Road at 5:27 p.m. Thursday. Mehaffey Road is a short drive past Edgemoor Road headed toward Knoxville on Clinton Highway. Headed toward Knoxville, it’s near the beginning of a hilly, curvy stretch of Clinton Highway that winds into Knox County from Anderson County.

Authorities said Gray was driving north on Clinton Highway in a 1993 Eagle Vision sedan when he turned into the path of a southbound 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee sport utility vehicle driven by Kimberly Williamson, 32, of Knoxville. [Read more…]

AC public works director not guilty on all five counts

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David Crowley

David Crowley

 

Note: This story was last updated at 5:50 p.m.

CLINTON—Anderson County Public Works Director David Crowley has been found not guilty on charges that he conducted building inspections without proper certifications.

A seven-man, five-woman jury found Crowley not guilty on all five counts after deliberating for about one hour and 45 minutes Thursday.

Crowley had been accused of violating the state’s building official certification law.

With the acquittals on Thursday, he can seek to have the charges expunged from his record, Anderson County Criminal and Circuit Court Judge Don Elledge said.

A few key questions raised in the trial had been whether five building inspections conducted by Crowley between October and December 2013, when he was not certified by the state, were within a 12-month grace period and whether they posed a danger to life, safety, health, and welfare. The question of when the grace period started depended upon whether Crowley’s interim hiring in September 2012 should be considered the starting point, or whether it should be his permanent appointment in November 2012 or his first inspection in February 2013.

The trial started Wednesday morning in Anderson County Criminal and Circuit Court, and it ended Thursday afternoon. [Read more…]

Traffic alert on I-75 due to bridge repairs, construction work

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Traffic Alert

The Tennessee Department of Transportation says bridge repairs and related construction work will require temporary lane closures in Anderson County. The lane changes will be through Thursday, May 5.

Interstate 75 Northbound will be reduced to one lane between Mile Markers 122 and 123 on Thursday, April 28, from 7 p.m. until 6 a.m., and then again on Friday, April 29, from 9 p.m. through Monday, May 2, at 6 a.m.

On Thursday, May 5, I-75 Northbound will be again reduced to one lane between Mile Marker 122 and Mile Marker 123 from 7 p.m. until 6 a.m.

Please expect delays if traveling in this area.

Information from Anderson County Sheriff’s Department