Oak Ridge Today

Neighbor with fire extinguisher helps control Oliver Springs kitchen fire

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The Oliver Springs Fire Department responds to a kitchen fire at 506 Cedar Lane on Friday evening, April 1, 2016. (Photo by Tom Scott)

 

OLIVER SPRINGS—A neighbor with a fire extinguisher in his camper helped control a kitchen fire in Oliver Springs on Friday, authorities said.

The fire was reported at about 5:35 p.m. Friday at 506 Cedar Lane in Oliver Springs. A resident of the home had been cooking, getting ready to fry potatoes, and stepped away from the stove, said Jordan Alcorn, captain of the Oliver Springs Fire Department. When the resident returned to the kitchen, grease was on fire, and the flames had extended up into the cabinets above the stove, Alcorn said.

The neighbor got his fire extinguisher and used it until it ran out. Then he exited the home, shutting the front door on the way out, a move that helps control fires, Alcorn said.

“He made a difference,” Alcorn said of the neighbor. [Read more…]

Warrants: Woman admits residents made meth in Tusculum Drive apartment

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Kimberly Hughes Welch

Kimberly Hughes Welch

An Oak Ridge woman who lives at an apartment raided by police on Wednesday admitted that she and a man who also lives at the home were using methamphetamine laboratory components, including chemicals and pseudoephedrine powder, to make meth there, authorities said.

Besides the chemicals and pseudoephedrine, officers also found gas generators, hoses, and what they described as bi-layer liquids, according to arrest warrants. Police described those items as meth lab components. They were allegedly found inside Apartment C at 197 Tusculum Drive during a Wednesday evening search, according to the warrants, which were filed by Simon Byrne of the Seventh District Crime Task Force.

Raynell Fountaine Hopson

Raynell Fountaine Hopson

After she was read her Miranda rights, apartment resident Kimberly Welch, 48, told police that she and Raynell Hopson, 47, who also lives in the apartment, were using the equipment to make meth, Byrne said.

Welch and Hopson have each been charged with the initiation of meth manufacturing, possession of drug paraphernalia, and the manufacture/delivery/sale of Schedule II drugs.

The alleged meth lab was within 1,000 feet of La Petite Academy on Tulsa Road, a drug-free school zone, so there could be a school zone enhancement to the charges, which would be applied at sentencing if Welch or Hopson are convicted, said Russell Barker, director of the Seventh District Crime Task Force. [Read more…]

Authorities find active meth lab on Tusculum Drive; three arrested

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Authorities found what they described as an active methamphetamine laboratory in a home on Tusculum Drive on Wednesday, March 30, 2016. Pictured above are three members of the 7th District Crime Task Force dressed in hazmat suits and using oxygen as they prepare to enter the back of the home. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was updated at 5:15 p.m.

Authorities found what they described as an active methamphetamine laboratory on Tusculum Drive on Wednesday, and three people were arrested, including two people who live at the home.

The Seventh District Crime Task Force determined the home was an active meth lab at about 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Director Russell Barker said. The alleged lab was inside a home at 197 Tusculum Drive, Apartment C.

Three members of the Crime Task Force first checked the home wearing hazardous materials suits and breathing oxygen. After they determined it was an active meth lab, they went back in to remove what Barker described as meth lab materials and trash left from cooking meth. Officers also found finished product, Barker said, although he didn’t have information on how much.

Officers collected the meth lab-related materials in front of the home on a blue tarp. Wearing gloves, boots, and sometimes using breathing masks with eye shields, they also placed some items in plastic five-gallon buckets.

A man and woman who live at the house were decontaminated and taken to jail in white Tyvek suits at about 7:45 p.m. Wednesday. Barker said one of them had been inside the home but was coming out when officers arrived. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge woman charged with traffic violations in fatal car-motorcycle crash

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An Oak Ridge woman has been charged with three traffic violations in the fatal car-motorcycle crash on North Illinois Avenue near the Kroger shopping center on January 31. Authorities said the woman, who was driving the car, made an improper left turn from a right-turn-only lane and failed to yield to the motorcyclist, who died. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

An Oak Ridge woman has been charged with three traffic violations in the fatal car-motorcycle crash on North Illinois Avenue near the Kroger shopping center on January 31.

Rufus E. Shephard III, 44, of Oak Ridge, died in the crash.

Noelle L. Patty, 29, is accused of failing to obey a traffic control device before the crash, according to arrest warrants filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge. That traffic control device is on an access road that connects the Kroger shopping center to North Illinois Avenue. It indicates a right turn only, but Patty turned left, headed south, from the shopping center access road onto Illinois Avenue, Oak Ridge Police Department Officer Chris Luethge said in the warrants.

That left turn put the Cadillac STS that Patty was driving into the path of northbound traffic on North Illinois Avenue, where a Kawasaki Ninja motorcycle driven north by Shephard collided with the Cadillac driven by Patty, Luethge said.

Shepard was launched into the Cadillac and then over it onto the asphalt, where he died, the warrants said. [Read more…]

Three arrested after robbery reported near Clinton Tuesday morning

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Dylon James Dotson

Dylon James Dotson

Three people were arrested after a robbery was reported in a mobile home park near Clinton on Tuesday morning, authorities said. One of the three is a juvenile.

A 22-year-old Clinton man flagged down a deputy on patrol on Laurel Road near Cedar Grove Lane around 9 a.m. Tuesday to report he had been beaten and robbed by four people, three males and a female, Anderson County Sheriff’s Department Chief Deputy Mark Lucas said.

“The victim said he had stayed overnight with one of the males, and the next morning he was offered a ride by another man,” Lucas said. “Instead of giving him a ride, the males along with the female beat him severely and stole money, prescription narcotics, and a cell phone. He was familiar with the three men and named them as his attackers along with providing a description of their car.”

A short time later, other deputies responded to a single-car traffic crash on Old Lake City Highway and soon learned the three male suspects in the robbery were involved in the crash, Lucas said. Two of the three were arrested at the scene for charges related to the robbery. The third male was a juvenile and was taken into custody after being treated for injuries from the crash at the University of Tennessee Medical Center. [Read more…]

Armed felon arrested after vehicle, foot chase, ACSD says

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Johnny Dewayne Thomas

Johnny Dewayne Thomas

An armed Rocky Top man was arrested and is facing several charges after a short vehicle and foot chase on Tuesday afternoon, authorities said.

Anderson County Sheriff’s Department deputies tried to stop a vehicle driven by Johnny Dewayne Thomas, 41, of Rocky Top, at about 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Chief Deputy Mark Lucas said.

“The car attempted to evade but stopped, and Thomas ran on foot,” Lucas said. “While being chased, Thomas was seen to remove a handgun from his waistband and look back at the pursuing deputy. He then threw the gun and continued running. The deputy deployed his Taser and made the arrest without further incident.” [Read more…]

One student arrested for bomb threat in Farragut; second identified in Hardin Valley threat

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A 16-year-old male student from Farragut High School was arrested for making a bomb threat at the school on Tuesday morning, and a second student who made a bomb threat at Hardin Valley Elementary has been identified, authorities said.

The arrest and identification were announced by the Major Crimes Unit of the Knox County Sheriff’s Office.

Farragut High School was on lockdown on Tuesday while KCSO investigators searched the school and interviewed students and staff after a threat was found on a wall in a boys’ restroom. The 16-year-old is charged with vandalism and making a bomb threat, the KCSO said.

“Once again, cooperation between law enforcement and students and school officials helped solve the case,” authorities said. “KCSO is investigating other suspects and expects more arrests.”

The bomb threat at Hardin Valley Elementary was also made Tuesday, the Major Crimes Unit said. That investigation continues. [Read more…]

Girl, 16, charged with making bomb threat at Hardin Valley Academy

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Knox County Sheriff Badge

The Knox County Sheriff’s Office has charged a 16-year-old girl with making a bomb threat at Hardin Valley Academy last week, authorities said.

The teen is a student at the school and is charged with making a bomb threat and vandalism, the Knox County Sheriff’s Office said. The school was closed last Thursday after school officials found a bomb threat written on the girls’ bathroom wall.

The KCSO said that help solving the case came about because of the “See Something, Say Something” program that has been implemented by law enforcement in conjunction with the Knox County school system. Students and school officials came forward with information that aided the KCSO investigation, authorities said. [Read more…]

Authorities ask drivers to follow parking rules at flea market, allow access for emergency vehicles

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Vehicles are parked in front of a “No Parking” sign in the turn lane and fire lane during the flea market at Oak Ridge High School on Saturday, March 26, 2016. (Photo courtesy Darryl Kerley)

 

Authorities are asking drivers to follow the parking rules at the Saturday morning flea markets at Oak Ridge High School. That will allow emergency vehicles to access the parking lot in emergencies, they said.

The Oak Ridge Fire Department and Oak Ridge Police Department were called to Oak Ridge High School again on Saturday morning to correct the parking situation at the Flea Market, which is operated by the school as a fundraiser, a press release said.

“Cars continue to block access for fire and emergency vehicles all around the venue and are interfering with the new traffic signal,” the press release said.

“We have had a reported car fire and an emergency medical situation in the past and could not get to the incident because of where vehicles were parked,” Oak Ridge Fire Department Chief Darryl Kerley said. “I have worked with the school system to correct the situation, and they have taken the appropriate steps to resolve the parking problem. The problem remains that drivers are not following direction of signage and continue to park inappropriately.” [Read more…]

Man rescues woman from porch during house fire on Robertsville Road

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TJ Giles and Jacky Smith at Robertsville Road House Fire on March 25, 2016

Oak Ridge Fire Department Investigator Thomas (T.J.) Giles, left, talks to Jacky Smith, who carried a woman from a porch during a house fire on Robertsville Road on Friday evening, March 25, 2016. (Photo by Tom Scott)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 10:20 a.m.

An Oak Ridge man rescued a disoriented woman from a porch during a house fire on Robertsville Road on Friday evening, authorities said.

The fire was reported at 7:22 p.m. Friday at 394 Robertsville Road.

Firefighters found heavy fire and smoke coming from the windows and attic of the home when they arrived, Oak Ridge Fire Chief Darryl Kerley said.

Jacky L. Smith, of Oak Ridge, said he was driving west on Robertsville Road when he noticed smoke coming from the house. He turned around and found Ruth Stewart sitting on her front porch confused. He asked Stewart if she knew her house was on fire and she replied, “Yes, I was cooking, and the stove caught on fire,” Kerley said in a press release. [Read more…]

Man arrested after armed standoff outside Clinton on Friday morning

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A 30-year-old man was arrested after an armed standoff with Anderson County Sheriff’s Department deputies just outside Clinton on Friday morning, March 25, 2016, authorities said. (Photo by Anderson County Sheriff’s Department)

 

A 30-year-old man was arrested after an armed standoff with Anderson County Sheriff’s Department deputies just outside Clinton on Friday morning, authorities said.

The standoff occurred on Hollingsworth Lane just outside Clinton. Deputies went to the home of Adam Jacob Daniels, 30, to serve arrest warrants from two incidents that occurred Thursday evening and earlier Friday morning, said Mark Lucas, Anderson County Sheriff’s Department chief deputy.

Daniels allegedly went to an apartment on Old Edgemoor Lane in Claxton around 9 p.m. Thursday and threatened two people with a handgun, Lucas said. He allegedly returned shortly after 3 a.m. Friday and shot through an apartment window. [Read more…]

Firefighters stop Cedar Hill Park fire from spreading

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The Oak Ridge Fire Department douses a bench that caught fire, possibly due to cigarettes discarded in mulch, at Cedar Hill Park, a beloved community-built playground, on Tuesday, March 22, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

A fire that burned a bench at Cedar Hill Park—a beloved community-built playground—might have been started by cigarettes discarded in mulch, authorities said.

The fire was reported at about 10:22 p.m. Tuesday. Firefighters were able to extinguish it within 10 minutes or less.

The quick response likely prevented additional damage to the playground on a windy night, Oak Ridge Fire Department Battalion Chief David Harrington said.

Firefighters don’t think the fire was intentional, Harrington said.

He said the bench was made of a plastic composite-like material. [Read more…]