Oak Ridge Today

Rocky Top woman charged with three counts of first-degree murder

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The criminal homicide charge filed against Christy Viola Comer, 37, left, was sent to the Anderson County Grand Jury after a preliminary hearing in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Clinton on Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2019. At right is defense attorney Leslie Hunt. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Christy Viola Comer, 38, of Rocky Top, has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the death of J.C. Copeland, an 83-year-old man, during an alleged robbery in August. Comer, left, is pictured above during a preliminary hearing in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Clinton on Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2019. At right is defense attorney Leslie Hunt. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

A Rocky Top woman has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the death of an 83-year-old man during an alleged robbery in August.

Christy Viola Comer, 38, faces one count of first-degree murder for the premeditated and intentional killing of J.C. Copeland, according to an indictment filed by the Anderson County Grand Jury in Clinton on March 5.

Comer faces two more charges of first-degree murder for allegedly killing Copeland while committing two other crimes, aggravated robbery and aggravated burglary, according to the indictment.

The five-count indictment also charged Comer with those two other crimes, aggravated robbery and aggravated burglary. Comer took Copeland’s property violently through the use of a deadly weapon, and she entered Copeland’s home without permission, intending to commit a felony, according to the indictment.

Comer has an arraignment scheduled for the five felony charges on March 29 in Anderson County Criminal Court in Clinton. [Read more…]

Man charged with attempted murder

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Jeremy Jon Bessette

Jeremy Jon Bessette

 

One Oak Ridge man was beaten in the head with a wrench on Thursday after a social media conversation, and another was charged with attempted murder after an alleged assault on South Walker Lane.

The victim, Andrew Steelman, had been talking to someone on social media that he thought was the girlfriend of Jeremy Jon Bessette, 40, according to affidavits filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge.

But it turned out that Steelman was not talking to Bessette’s girlfriend, but rather to Bessette, who was posing online as his girlfriend while Steelman “flirted with her,” the affidavits said.

The Oak Ridge Police Department first learned of the incident when they were notified of a physical disturbance on South Walker Lane at 1:53 p.m. Thursday. There, a witness said a man, later identified as Bessette, entered the home and began hitting another man in the head with what appeared to be a wrench, according to the affidavits, which were filed by ORPD Officer Perry Lewis.

The alleged assailant then got into a dark-colored Pontiac and fled, the affidavits said. [Read more…]

Man accused of robbing pregnant woman, kicking her in stomach

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Jordan Lamar Young

Jordan Lamar Young

 

An Oak Ridge man allegedly broke into an apartment on Utica Circle on Monday, threatened a pregnant woman while brandishing a folding pocket knife, and demanded prescriptions and cash, Anderson County court records said. When the woman resisted, the court records said, she was thrown to the ground and kicked in the stomach, and the man jammed his knee into her back to try to get her to comply.

“The victim was in fear of great bodily harm or death to herself or her unborn child,” according to affidavits filed Tuesday in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge.

The affidavits, filed by Oak Ridge Police Department Investigator A. Marvell Moore, said the victim is seven months pregnant.

After the alleged home invasion robbery, the suspect, Jordan Lamar Young, 31, of Tuskegee Drive, fled the apartment with the pregnant woman’s prescription medication and $301 in cash, the affidavits said. [Read more…]

Soft lockdown lifted at Preschool, SAB after domestic violence suspect arrested

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Domestic Violence at Geneva Road

A soft lockdown was lifted Wednesday morning at the Preschool and School Administration Building after a domestic violence suspect was arrested a few blocks east on West Geneva Lane. (Photo by Oak Ridge Police Department)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 1:45 p.m. Sept. 17.

A soft lockdown was lifted Wednesday morning at the Oak Ridge Preschool and School Administration Building after a domestic violence suspect was arrested on West Geneva Lane.

The call was reported to have started at 10:21 a.m. on Georgia Avenue, which is east of Jackson Square and Blankenship Field, and a few blocks east of the Preschool and SAB. The Oak Ridge Police Department received a report of a domestic dispute, and suspect Timothy Dickens, 34, of Oak Ridge, allegedly kicked in the front door of a home, a City of Oak Ridge press release said.

“Mr. Dickens fled the residence on foot westbound into a densely wooded area,” the release said. [Read more…]

Man arrested after women’s clothing, property set on fire, neighbor assaulted

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Oak Ridge Police Department Logo

A man was arrested Thursday morning after women’s clothing and property were set on fire in a domestic dispute on Waddell Circle, and a neighbor was assaulted, authorities said.

Oak Ridge Police Department patrol officers and investigators responded to the call at 171 Waddell Circle at 7:58 a.m. Thursday, a press release said. They determined that it was a continuation of an earlier domestic call involving a male subject identified as Christopher Crandall.

“Officers discovered a large pile of personal belongings and women’s clothing belonging to the victim burning in the yard, which was extinguished by members of the Oak Ridge Fire Department,” the press release said. “Officers were unable to locate Crandall after a search of the area, as he had apparently fled the area on foot prior to police arrival.”

Two hours later, at 9:58 a.m., police officers were again summoned to the area for an assault that had taken place involving Crandall, the release said. [Read more…]

ORPD arrests home intruder

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Thurman B. Bates

Thurman B. Bates

The Oak Ridge Police Department on Tuesday arrested a man who entered the home of his ex-girlfriend without permission and threatened to assault her, authorities said.

Officers responded to the home on Inn Lane at about 11:25 p.m. Tuesday. The man who allegedly entered without permission was later identified as Thurman Bates, 36, of Oak Ridge, a press release said.

Officers said the victim managed to escape the residence by crawling out a window and fleeing to a neighbor’s home to call the police. When they arrived, officers entered the victim’s residence in search of Bates, who had barricaded himself behind the door in the residence, the release said. Officers forced entry into the room and found Bates hiding in a closet.

The release said Bates was taken into custody with the assistance of a police canine after he briefly resisted arrest. Bates was arrested and transported to the Anderson County Detention Facility, where he was charged with aggravated burglary, domestic assault, and resisting arrest.

Warrants: Man armed with knife tried to kidnap two children

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Justin Len Williams

Justin Len Williams

An Oak Ridge man allegedly broke into a home this month, assaulted the mother of his children, threw a five-inch kitchen knife at a man at the home, and tried to kidnap two kids, authorities said.

Justin L. Williams, 23, is accused of going upstairs at the Knoll Lane home armed with a five-inch kitchen knife and confronting the woman in the hall, shoving her against a door and to the floor, and assaulting her again outside while taking her car keys to get child seats, according to arrest warrants filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court.

The woman, who had a laceration to her right big toe, reportedly called 911 on her cell phone during the assault at about 4:18 a.m. January 14, the warrants said. [Read more…]

Two caught carrying stolen items in Marlow burglary, sheriff says

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Marcus Dewayne Bowling

Marcus Dewayne Bowling

Two people were arrested Tuesday evening after a sheriff’s deputy caught them carrying stolen items from a Marlow home where a burglary-in-progress had been reported, authorities said.

Anderson County Sheriff’s Department deputies responded to the home on Binkley Acres Lane near Oliver Springs at about 8:42 p.m. Tuesday. The homeowner was contacted by a neighbor who saw a strange car in the driveway, Anderson County Sheriff Paul White said. The owner went to the home and saw the vehicle parked at the gate near the entrance to his driveway.

“Upon checking his property, he observed two persons inside the home,” White said. “The homeowner called 911 and deputies responded.” [Read more…]

Knoxville man arrested after alleged burglary, running into tree

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Information from WYSH Radio

A Knoxville man was arrested Saturday night after he allegedly broke into a house on Channel Way in Clinton and later injured his head by running into a tree.

The arrest report from the Clinton Police Department indicated that the residents of the home called 911 after Darron Christopher Hickman, 46, kicked in the front door, entered the house and “passed out.” At some point, Hickman got up and left the scene before officers arrived, and once they did, they located him a short time later in the nearby woods, where he was found sitting under a tree bleeding from the head. [Read more…]

Armed with bat, Clinton man allegedly threatens to kill Powell man, daughter

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Casey Aaron Massengill

Casey Aaron Massengill

Also arrested on domestic assault charge from October

A Clinton man who was allegedly armed with a baseball bat and threatened to kill a Powell man and his daughter before beating on a car with the bat has been charged with aggravated assault, aggravated burglary, and two counts of vandalism.

Casey Aaron Massengill, 24, of Sinking Springs Road, was also arrested on a charge of domestic assault for allegedly hitting his ex-girlfriend in the face and head and spraying her with pepper spray in October.

The incident involving the alleged aggravated assault and aggravated burglary occurred on Jan. 25 on Bison Lane in Powell in Anderson County. Bison Lane is off Clinton Highway southeast of Edgemoor Road.

The victim reported he was asleep in his bedroom at about 11:16 p.m. Jan. 25 when he heard glass break. He said he found Massengill in his living room with a baseball bat, according to arrest warrants filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court. [Read more…]

Man pistol-whipped, pregnant woman blacks out during home invasion

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Duran Maszae Lee

Duran Maszae Lee

An Oak Ridge man was allegedly hit in the head and face with a pistol, and a woman who is nine months pregnant blacked out from fear when a suspect pointed a silver revolver at her during a Friday night home invasion on Dewey Road, authorities said.

The suspects allegedly stole a Sentry safe containing $3,000 from a closet and fled in a vehicle before officers arrived.

But the white 2008 Cadillac CTS four-door sedan crashed into a utility pole a few minutes later on Delaware Avenue, less than a mile from the Dewey Road home, an Oak Ridge Police Department crash report said.

Duran Maszae Lee, 29, who was the driver and also a home invasion suspect, allegedly had three plastic baggies in his rear pocket, and they contained a green leafy-like plant substance believed to be marijuana, according to affidavits filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court. The baggies contained a total of 21.9 grams of suspected marijuana packaged for sale, ORPD Detective Kevin Craig said. [Read more…]

One suspect arrested after home invasion, car crash on Friday night

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Duran Maszae Lee

Duran Maszae Lee

Police arrested one suspect in a Friday night home invasion on Dewey Road after a vehicle crashed into a utility pole on Delaware Avenue, authorities said.

The home invasion was reported at about 10 p.m. Friday. The suspects fled in a vehicle before officers arrived, Oak Ridge Police Department Lt. Robin Smith said in a statement Saturday night.

“Moments later, it was reported that a vehicle had struck a utility pole on Delaware Avenue,” Smith said. “At the crash scene, officers located one of the suspects from the home invasion.” [Read more…]