Oak Ridge Today

For members: Mason found guilty of federal gun, drug charges

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Charles Mason Preliminary Hearing July 25 2019
An Anderson County man who has been convicted of two homicides and has been charged in state court with the attempted murder of a deputy was found guilty in federal court on Friday, Jan. 17, 2020, of gun and drug crimes that have potential sentences of life in prison. Charles Edward Mason, 52, is pictured above during a preliminary hearing in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Clinton on Thursday, July 25, 2019, when one count of attempted first-degree murder and five aggravated assault charges were sent to the Anderson County Grand Jury. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

KNOXVILLE—An Anderson County man who has been convicted of two homicides and has been charged in state court with the attempted murder of a deputy was found guilty in federal court on Friday of gun and drug crimes that have potential sentences of life in prison.

A 12-person jury deliberated for about two hours Friday morning before reaching a unanimous verdict on the four federal charges:

Charles Mason Preliminary Hearing July 25 2019

KNOXVILLE—An Anderson County man who has been convicted of two homicides and has been charged in state court with the attempted murder of a deputy was found guilty in federal court on Friday of gun and drug crimes that have potential sentences of life in prison.

A 12-person jury deliberated for about two hours Friday morning before reaching a unanimous verdict on the four federal charges.

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ACSD: Wife charged with attempted murder said she hoped husband died

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Pecola Duncan
Pecola Duncan

A woman charged with attempted murder after a stabbing in Anderson County on Friday evening told deputies that she hoped her husband died, according to the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department.

The alleged stabbing was reported on Dutch Valley Road. When ACSD deputies arrived, they found the victim, Harold Duncan, coming out of the home holding a towel on his chest, the Sheriff’s Department said. The towel was soaked with blood, deputies said.

Duncan told ACSD Deputy Kory Blevins that his wife, Pecola Duncan, stabbed him in the chest while he was napping on the recliner.

[Read more…]

NTSB investigating fatal aircraft crash

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The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the fatal crash of a small aircraft near Oliver Springs Airport on Saturday.

The crash of the experimental light sport aircraft was reported at about 5:18 p.m. Saturday near Smith Road. That’s just east of the airport and on the other side of a tree line, according to an Anderson County Sheriff’s Department report.

The Quicksilver MXII had crashed into a field, and its nose was down into the ground, ACSD Sergeant Kenneth L. Bradley wrote in the report.

The pilot who died has been identified as Patrick Lucas, 45, of Morristown. He appeared to be the only occupant of the aircraft, the report said.

[Read more…]

Reports: Deputy, prisoner injured in crash

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Yoonsik Jung

Yoonsik Jung

An Anderson County Sheriff’s Department deputy and a prisoner were injured in a three-vehicle rear-end crash at Interstate 75 early Sunday, and a Clinton man is facing charges of driving under the influence and reckless driving, among other counts, authorities said.

The crash was reported at about 1 a.m. Sunday on North Charles G. Seivers Boulevard (Highway 61) at I-75.

Anderson County Sheriff’s Department Deputy Gregory Stanley, 49, of Knoxville, was transporting a prisoner for the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency in a 2011 Ford Crown Victoria, and he was stopped at the traffic light at the I-75 southbound exit ramp when he was struck in the rear by a driver reported to be intoxicated, ACSD Chief  Deputy Mark Lucas said. TWRA had made an arrest on Norris Lake for domestic assault, and the Sheriff’s Department had responded to transport the person who had been arrested to the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton.

Stanley, the deputy, was stopped for the red light when his car was hit in the rear, Lucas said. Both Stanley and the prisoner, Eric Allen Rose, 25, of Powell, were taken to Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge by Anderson County EMS for non-life threatening injuries after the crash, Lucas said. [Read more…]

ACSD investigating cause of Saturday fire

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Information from WYSH Radio

The Anderson County Sheriff’s Department’s Criminal Investigation Division is looking into the cause of a fire that seriously damaged a mobile home on Norris Freeway on Saturday morning.

After firefighters from the Andersonville Volunteer Fire Department doused the blaze, investigators spoke with the resident of the single-wide trailer, who told them he was in the process of moving out and had not stayed there in a couple of nights. [Read more…]

ORPD: Shots fired across from marina reported to be target practice; no injuries, damage

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Oak Ridge Police at Oak Ridge Marina Sept 2 2016 Marrison 4

The Oak Ridge Police Department evacuated residents from the Oak Ridge Marina pavilion after gunshots were reported from across the lake on Friday evening, but officers said no injuries or damages were reported or found. (Photo by Michael Marrison)

 

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

The Oak Ridge Police Department evacuated residents from the Oak Ridge Marina pavilion after gunshots were reported from across the lake on Friday evening, but officers said no injuries or damages were reported or found.

The ORPD received a report from people at the Melton Lake Pavilion at about 7:03 p.m. Friday, September 2, that shots were being fired in their direction from across the lake, a press release said.

“Complainants reported that bullets could be heard passing over the pavilion area,” the ORPD press release said.

ORPD officers responded to the pavilion immediately and safely evacuated the residents using a hand-carried ballistic shield, the press release said. [Read more…]

ACSD investigating robbery report

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Information from WYSH Radio

The Anderson County Sheriff’s Department is investigating a robbery reported to them early Tuesday morning.

A deputy responded to a call of a suspicious person walking along Clinton Highway shortly after midnight and made contact with a man at the pay phone in front of the Weigel’s on Clinton Highway in Claxton. The man was attempting to call a friend to come pick him up, and the deputy noted that he had dried blood on his chest, a bloody nose, an abrasion on his right cheek, and a small cut on the right side of his jaw.

The man told deputies he had been riding with a friend in the friend’s car when he told the driver he was going too fast and needed to slow down. That started an argument that ended when the driver pulled into the parking lot of Ciderville Music, pulled the victim out of the car and allegedly beat and robbed him. The victim told deputies that it felt like there three or four people hitting him and that he believed it was a planned robbery. [Read more…]

ACSD asks for help finding runaway juvenile

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Christina-Nicole-Day

Christina Nicole Day

The Anderson County Sheriff’s Department is asking for the public’s help in locating a runway juvenile.

Christina Nicole Day, 15, ran away from her home in the Frost Bottom community late Friday evening, March 4, and has not returned, authorities said.

Here is a description of Christina Nicole Day: [Read more…]

Runaway juvenile located

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Briana-Phillips

Briana Hailey Lynn Phillips

The runaway juvenile who had last been seen on Tuesday has been located, authorities said Friday.

Briana Hailey Lynn Phillips, 15, was located by investigators with the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department and detectives from the Clinton Police Department, authorities said.

“Thanks to everyone for their help,” said Mark Lucas, Anderson County Sheriff’s Department chief deputy.

More information will be added as it becomes available.

Parking lot sweeps at ORHS designed to ensure safe, healthy campus, principal says

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Oak-Ridge-High-School-Safety-Check-Coley-Justice-Nov-20-2015-1

Anderson County Sheriff’s Department Deputy Rick Coley and his police dog Justus help conduct a safety check at Oak Ridge High School on Friday, Nov. 20, 2015. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The random parking lot sweeps conducted several times per year at Oak Ridge High School with officers and police dogs are meant to help ensure a safe, healthy campus, an official during one sweep Friday.

The school conducted the Friday sweep with help from the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department and Oak Ridge Police Department and several canine officers.

Officials said it was a successful operation, although they declined to give specific information, including because the searches involve juveniles.

It was the first parking lot sweep since new ORHS Principal Martin McDonald replaced David Bryant, who retired this summer. [Read more…]

Man wanted in Oak Ridge after shooting, crash arrested in Knox

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Larry Dewayne Williams

Larry Dewayne Williams

Note: This story was last updated at 1:21 p.m.

A 28-year-old Oak Ridge man wanted after a September shooting and three-car crash was arrested in Knox County on Sunday, authorities said.

Authorities are waiting for Larry Dewayne Williams, 28, to be transported to Anderson County.

“We’re very, very pleased with that,” Oak Ridge Police Chief Jim Akagi said of the arrest, “and we eagerly await his transfer to Anderson County to answer the charges.”

The specific charges haven’t been released yet.

In September, the Oak Ridge Police Department said it seized 49.2 grams of suspected heroin in a West Outer Drive house that is the home of Williams and Chelsea Reign Lively, 22.

The ORPD said it found the drugs, which also included about 7.72 ounces of suspected marijuana, during a search after the September 21 shooting, which was on Wakefield Road, and three-car crash about two hours later at North Illinois Avenue and West Outer Drive.

[Read more…]

ACSD enhances security after Chattanooga shooting

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Anderson County Sheriff Patch

The Anderson County Sheriff’s Department sent deputies to provide security at the National Guard Armory in Clinton and to the area around the Tennessee Valley Authority facilities at Norris Dam and Bull Run Fossil Plant in Claxton after officials learned of the fatal shootings at military centers in Chattanooga on Thursday.

Additional deputies were also sent to the Anderson County Courthouse in Clinton and to county government buildings, Anderson County Sheriff’s Department Chief Deputy Mark Lucas said.

He said the Tennessee Highway Patrol notified the ACSD on Thursday morning, July 16, about the unfolding events in Chattanooga.

“We informed all of our local police departments of this information,” Lucas said. “Our dispatch was also in contact with the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency State Emergency Operations Center in Nashville.” [Read more…]