Oak Ridge Today

Updated: Attorney Tunnell charged with assault, Judge Miller recuses himself

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William Lawrence Tunnell

William Lawrence Tunnell

Note: This story was updated at 11:55 a.m. Jan. 21.

William Lawrence Tunnell, an alternate Oak Ridge city judge who is believed to be the oldest practicing attorney in Tennessee, was arrested January 13 for allegedly hitting a man with his car and knocking him to the ground in November.

Tunnell, 94, has been charged with one count of aggravated assault. He has a hearing scheduled for 9 a.m. Wednesday in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge.

(Update: Anderson County General Sessions Court Judge Roger Miller has recused himself from hearing this case, and a special judge will be appointed. A new hearing date had not been set as of Wednesday morning.)

According to an arrest warrant, the incident occurred Friday evening, November 21, at the intersection of West Outer Drive and Waltham Lane. [Read more…]

East Tennessee man charged with rape, assault, false imprisonment

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Robert John Davis

Robert John Davis

An East Tennessee man is accused of raping his ex-girlfriend in a Claxton home, shoving her backward and causing her head to go through a sheetrock wall, pointing a pistol at her and himself, and threatening to burn down her house, authorities said.

Robert John Davis, 34, is accused of using the victim’s debit card without permission to withdraw $200, throwing objects and ransacking her house, and telling her she had to have sex with him if she wanted to have her car keys, according to warrants filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court.

Davis has been charged with rape, aggravated assault, domestic assault, false imprisonment, property theft, unauthorized use of an auto/joyriding, and violation of an order of protection, the warrants said. Davis, who has addresses listed in Powell and Greenback, remains jailed in the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton, and his bail has been set at $237,500, according to court records. [Read more…]

Five arrested after shots fired into Claxton home, marijuana found

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Kevin Scott Garner

Kevin Scott Garner

Five people were arrested early Sunday morning after deputies responded to a report of shots fired into an occupied home in Claxton, authorities said. They said deputies were helped by a series of anonymous 911 calls from a Powell man who was found with the Knoxville man alleged to have been the shooter.

Anderson County Sheriff Paul White said dispatchers began receiving anonymous 911 calls from a cell phone around 5 a.m. Sunday, reporting a shooting into a residence at 120 East Circle. However, the calls were not coming from the actual residence. Some 30 calls were made over the next several minutes, White said.

Deputies responded to the East Circle home and, when they arrived, spoke with a person on the front porch who initially gave a false name and false information about what happened. Another person was found hiding in the back yard. A third person was inside the residence.

Bullet holes were found in the front of the house. No one was injured. [Read more…]

Suspect in alleged assault over pregnancy check turns himself in

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Aaron Eugene Seiber

Aaron Eugene Seiber

Information from WYSH Radio/Anderson County Sheriff’s Department

The Briceville man who allegedly assaulted his girlfriend, who wanted to go to the doctor to see if she is pregnant, turned himself in at the jail on Tuesday, authorities said.

Aaron Eugene Seiber, 25, remained jailed at the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton on Sunday afternoon. He has been charged with aggravated assault, and his bond has been set at $50,000.

Seiber is accused of hitting his 21-year-old girlfriend in the stomach and choking her after she asked if she should go to the doctor to see if she was pregnant. The Clinton woman reported that Seiber allegedly swung a hammer at her, choked her, and struck her in the stomach.

The woman told deputies that the attack happened at Seiber’s home near Rocky Top early Saturday morning, November 1, and that she intended to seek an order of protection against him.

Woman accused of pointing gun at officers charged with aggravated assault

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Anna King

Anna King

The Jonathan Lane woman who allegedly pointed a pistol at Oak Ridge police officers before they fired four shots at her was arrested on Tuesday night on three counts of aggravated assault, authorities said.

Anna Marie King, 46, remained jailed at the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton on Thursday morning. Her bond has been set at $50,000.

Officers were dispatched to 123 Jonathan Lane just before midnight on August 2 for a welfare check on King. Her boyfriend reported that she was depressed and threatening to shoot herself, Oak Ridge Police Department Detective Kevin Craig said in affidavits filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court.

The boyfriend also said there were weapons in the home, Craig said.

Three ORPD officers—Leslie Miller, Field Training Officer Christopher Carden, and Kenneth Prickett—responded. They said they confronted King in her front yard, and she was holding a handgun to her throat and head, according to the warrants. [Read more…]

Sheriff: Aryan Nations member charged in attempted murder of Oak Ridge man

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Cameron Reid Lowry

Cameron Reid Lowry

A Powell member of the Aryan Nations gang has been charged with attempted murder in a gang-related assault on a 31-year-old Oak Ridge man in November, authorities said.

Cameron Reid Lowry, 35, of West Emory Road in Powell, has been charged with attempted first-degree murder and aggravated assault, Anderson County Sheriff Paul White said. Lowry was arrested Saturday after he was indicted by the Anderson County grand jury, White said. Lowry’s bond has been set at $100,000.

White said the arrest is the result of an investigation that has been under way for several months and involved cooperation between the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department and the 7th Judicial District Crime Task Force, which includes officers from the Sheriff’s Department, and the Oak Ridge, Clinton, Lake City, and Oliver Springs police departments, as well as the District Attorney General’s Office. [Read more…]

ORPD: Four shots fired at woman who pointed pistol at officer

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Oak Ridge Police Department Logo

Three counts of aggravated assault pending against woman; officers on administrative leave

Two Oak Ridge police officers fired four shots at a woman who pointed a pistol at one of them on Saturday night, authorities said.

The woman, who had reportedly threatened to commit suicide, pointed the semi-automatic pistol at Oak Ridge Police Department Officer Leslie Miller after authorities had ordered her to put down the gun, a press release said.

Fearing for her safety, Miller fired one round, while another responding officer, Christopher Carden, fired three shots at the at the woman, Anna King, who fell backwards, the ORPD press release said.

Police responded to the home at 123 Jonathan Lane at about 11:37 p.m. Saturday after King’s boyfriend called police to report that King had threatened to commit suicide. The boyfriend said King had access to several weapons, including a pistol, a rifle, and a shotgun. Besides Miller and Carden, Officer Kenneth Prickett was also dispatched to the home to check King’s welfare, the press release said. [Read more…]

Sixth person arrested in Aryans Nations gang-related attempted murder

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Cynthia Ann Wright

Cynthia Ann Wright

A sixth person was arrested on Thursday after another indictment was returned in an Aryan Nations gang-related attempted murder and conspiracy case, authorities said.

Cynthia Ann Wright, 40, of Strawberry Plains, was arrested at her home in Jefferson County by sheriff’s investigators with the assistance of the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department, Anderson County Sheriff Paul White said in a Tuesday morning press release. Wright is now being held in the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton under a $100,000 bond.

White said investigators obtained indictments from the Anderson County Grand Jury on the six people after a lengthy investigation into the severe beating of a 31-year-old Briceville man that resulted in serious injuries. The incident occurred on Dennis Lane in Claxton in December 2013 and was from internal gang-related enforcement. All six people charged in the case are members of the Aryan Nations gang, White said. [Read more…]

Police arrest driver who resisted officer, hit steel post at Rocky Top

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Rocky Top Steel Pole Damage

Police have arrested the Knoxville man who resisted an officer at a Rocky Top convenience store early Tuesday morning before hitting this steel pole in the gas station’s parking lot.

 

Knox County and Oak Ridge officers have arrested the Knoxville man who resisted an officer before he accelerated toward a Rocky Top store and hit a steel pole in the gas station’s parking lot early Tuesday morning, authorities said.

Sherrius Smith, 20, was arrested at an apartment on West Vista Ridge Way in Knoxville at about 11:10 a.m. Tuesday by members of the Knox County Sheriff’s Office Warrant Division and Oak Ridge Police Department Special Projects Unit, the ORPD said in a press release. He was transferred to the ORPD, which is taking him to the Anderson County Detention Center in Clinton, where he will face the following charges, a press release said:

  • two counts of aggravated assault,
  • possession of schedule VI controlled substances for resale, [Read more…]

Man who allegedly fired pistol charged with aggravated assault

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Wakefield Road Police Standoff

A man who allegedly shot one round from a pistol during a disturbance in a parking lot at an apartment complex on Wakefield Road on Monday has been charged with six counts of aggravated assault and one count of reckless endangerment, the Oak Ridge Police Department said. A woman has been charged with tampering with evidence.

 

An Oak Ridge man who allegedly fired one shot from a pistol during a disturbance in a parking lot on Wakefield Road on Monday has been charged with six counts of aggravated assault and one count of reckless endangerment, authorities said.

Police responded to the disturbance call, which involved several people, at an apartment complex at 105 Wakefield Road at about 7:40 p.m. Monday, an Oak Ridge Police Department press release said. During the disturbance, a man allegedly fired one shot from a pistol, the release said.

Before officers arrived, witnesses said, the suspect entered Apartment #E, and he possessed a second firearm, the press release said. ORPD officers arrived and set up a perimeter around the apartment building. [Read more…]

Arrest made in Louisiana in gang-related attempted murder

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Crystal Lynnette McGuire

Crystal Lynnette McGuire

Crystal Lynnette McGuire, who was wanted in connection with a gang-related attempted murder in Claxton in December, was arrested without incident in Louisiana on Wednesday by the Sabine Parish Sheriff’s Department, authorities said.

“Our investigators were in contact with Louisiana authorities throughout the day after learning McGuire may have been in that area,” Anderson County Sheriff’s Department Chief Deputy Mark Lucas said. “She was located and arrested earlier this afternoon by sheriff’s deputies in Sabine County.”

The Sheriff’s Department said it does not have information about McGuire’s extradition or when she may be brought back to Anderson County.

“It may be several days before all the paperwork will be completed for this to occur,” Lucas said. [Read more…]

Sheriff: Members of Aryan Nations gang charged with attempted murder in beating

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Jacob Eli Campbell

Jacob Eli Campbell

Five members of the Aryan Nations gang have been charged with attempted first-degree murder for the severe beating of a 31-year-old Briceville man in Claxton in December, authorities said.

Three of those charged were arrested Tuesday after indictments were returned in the gang-related attempted murder and conspiracy case, the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department said.

David Lee Dozard

David Lee Dozard

Leonard Lionel Kilgore, 36, of Knoxville, and Jacob Eli Campbell, 33, and Michael James O’Conner Jr., 32, both of Sevierville, were taken into custody Tuesday morning, Sheriff Paul White said.

A fourth person, David Lee Dozard II, 32, of Mountain City in upper East Tennessee, is now in state prison on unrelated charges and the indictments will be served on him later. [Read more…]