Oak Ridge Today

Eleven indicted in alleged conspiracy to sell 300 grams or more of cocaine

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Jordan Antwan Jones

Jordan Antwan Jones

Note: This story was last updated at 10:25 p.m. May 9.

Eleven Oak Ridge and Knoxville residents were indicted May 3 on charges that they conspired to manufacture, distribute, and sell 300 grams or more of cocaine-based products last year.

The alleged cocaine conspiracy occurred between May 14 and December 23, 2015. The indictments were filed May 3, 2016.

The 11 indicted are:

  • Jordan Antwan Jones, 28, Tracy Lane, in Oak Ridge;
  • Deangelo James Galbreath, 28, Deer Run Drive, Knoxville;
  • Laquan Bernard Barber, 32, Hillside Road, Oak Ridge;
  • Derrick Jemail Anthony, 38, South Fisk Avenue, Oak Ridge;
  • Christopher Shane Black, 28, West Pasadena Lane, Oak Ridge;
  • Nicholas O’Brien Mitchell, 32, Tracy Lane, Oak Ridge;
  • William Ralph Sanders Jr., 38, South Benedict Avenue, Oak Ridge;
  • Alfred Lee Jones, 49, Black Rock Circle, Knoxville;
  • Ellen Michelle Sanders, 31, Nasson Lane, Oak Ridge;
  • Sarah Denise Cupp, 30, Aloha Avenue, Knoxville; and
  • Efia Ann Hull, 38, Deer Run Drive, Knoxville.

They are each facing Class A felony charges of:

  • conspiracy to manufacture 300 grams or more of cocaine,
  • conspiracy to distribute 300 grams or more of cocaine,
  • conspiracy to sell 300 grams or more of cocaine, and
  • conspiracy to possess with the intent to manufacture, deliver, or sell 300 grams or more of cocaine.

They have also been indicted on Class A felony charges of: [Read more…]

Jail records: About two dozen arrests on drug-related charges Thursday

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Dave Clark

Dave Clark

Note: This story was last updated at 8:26 a.m.

There were about two dozen arrests on drug-related charges in Anderson County on Thursday, according to jail records, as authorities from several agencies swept through Oak Ridge and possibly other communities in what they’ve described as a multi-county criminal investigation.

The most common charge, by far, is manufacturing, delivering, selling, or possessing a controlled substance, according to Anderson County jail records. Counts on that charge vary from one to two dozen, according to jail records, with many of those arrested facing in the range of eight to 11 counts.

Other charges listed against a few of those arrested include possessing a firearm in the commission of a felony, unlawfully carrying a weapon, possessing drug paraphernalia, tampering with evidence, property theft, and simple possession.

Most of those arrested are listed as Oak Ridge residents, but there are also residents of Knoxville, Clinton, Kingston, and Madisonville. The defendants range in age from 20-61. [Read more…]

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…]

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…]

One flown to UT after ATV-motorcycle crash on Hillvale Road

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Note: This story was updated at 4:35 p.m.

A 23-year-old man was flown to a hospital with non-life threatening injuries after a motorcycle and all-terrain vehicle crashed on Hillvale Road in Anderson County on Monday afternoon, authorities said.

At the time of the crash, Caleb Tyler Burrell, 23, of Clinton, was traveling south on Hillvale Road on a 2014 Yamaha YFR motorcycle behind a 2013 Ranger side-by-side ATV driven by Wesley Edward Tilley, 38, of Andersonville, the Tennessee Highway Patrol said.

Tilley was trying to make a left turn off Hillvale Road onto a private drive when Burrell tried to pass the ATV, the THP said.

The motorcycle driven by Burrell hit the ATV driven by Tilley at an angle, a preliminary report said. [Read more…]

TBI investigating death of Anderson County inmate

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Princess Wyomina Shifflett

Princess Wyomina Shifflett

 

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is investigating the death of an Anderson County inmate last week, officials said Monday.

The TBI was asked to investigate the death of Princess Wyomina Shifflett, 58, by Anderson County District Attorney General Dave Clark on Thursday, officials said.

Shifflett died at the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton, officials said.

Shifflett had some sort of medical emergency, and emergency medical services were called to take her to a medical center, where she died, TBI spokesperson Susan Niland said in an email. [Read more…]

Woman flown to hospital by Lifestar after Norris Freeway crash

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A Heiskell woman had to be freed from a car and flown to a hospital by a medical helicopter after a crash on Norris Freeway on Friday evening, authorities said.

The single-vehicle crash was reported at about 7:09 p.m. Friday on Norris Freeway near Foust Hollow Road in Anderson County, the Tennessee Highway Patrol said.

Karen Nolan, 60, was driving north on Norris Freeway, also known as US 441, when the 2006 Buick Century went off the left side of the road, the THP said. The car traveled through a fence and down an embankment, rolling several times before coming to a stop on its driver’s side, a preliminary THP report said. [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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Tusculum-Drive-Meth-Lab-Bust-March-30-2016-2

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…]

Knoxville man dies in motorcycle crash on Old Emory in Claxton

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Old-Emory-Road-Motorcycle-Crash-March-19-2016

A Knoxville man died after he lost control of his motorcycle, struck a guardrail, and landed down an embankment on Old Emory Road in Claxton on Saturday afternoon, authorities said. The Tennessee Highway Patrol investigated the crash, which was reported at the intersection with Walnut Valley Road on Saturday afternoon, March 19, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

CLAXTON—A Knoxville man died after he lost control of a motorcycle, struck a guardrail, and landed down an embankment on Old Emory Road in Claxton on Saturday afternoon, authorities said.

The single-vehicle crash was reported at about 2:21 p.m. Saturday at the intersection with Walnut Valley Road, just north of Bull Run Fossil Plant.

The Tennessee Highway Patrol said Peter Bolen, 52, was driving south on a 2005 Suzuki motorcycle when he lost control going around a curve and hit the guardrail. The motorcycle crossed the road and stopped in a ditch on the opposite side of the road. [Read more…]