Oak Ridge Today

Dump truck driver cited for trailer brake, safety chain violations after crash with car

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Rescuers said it was a miracle that a woman survived when a trailer carrying a small skid steer loader crashed into her Toyota Camry on Emory Valley Road on Friday evening, Sept. 2, 2016. The black dump truck reported to be pulling the trailer before the crash is partially visible in the background behind the tow truck above. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

A Knoxville man who was allegedly driving a dump truck pulling a trailer that came loose and struck a car head-on on Emory Valley Road in September, trapping and injuring a driver, has been cited for violations of state laws governing trailer brakes and adequate safety chains, according to court records.

Gerald D. Cureton, 71, had an initial appearance scheduled on Wednesday morning in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge. The court date was reset to November 9 to see if Cureton hires an attorney.

A violation of the brake requirement is a Class C misdemeanor, according to a copy of that section of state law, Tennessee Code Annotated 55-9-204, posted on LexisNexis.

A violation of the safety chain requirement is punishable by a fine of $50 on a first offense and a fine of between $50 and $500 on second and subsequent offenses, according to a copy of another section of state law, TCA 55-7-114, posted on LexisNexis. [Read more…]

Second homicide charge added, preliminary hearing set in crash that killed school employee

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Vicki G. Gilmore, 62, of Oak Ridge, is facing three more felony charges, including a second vehicular homicide charge, in the death of a 37-year-old Harriman mother and Roane County Schools employee in a fatal three-vehicle crash at Oak Ridge Turnpike and Jefferson Avenue on May 6, 2016. A preliminary hearing for Gilmore, who is pictured above on Thursday, Sept. 29, has been set for 10 a.m. Oct. 21 in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

An Oak Ridge woman is facing three more felony charges, including a second vehicular homicide charge, in the death of a 37-year-old Harriman mother and Roane County Schools employee after a three-vehicle crash at Oak Ridge Turnpike and Jefferson Avenue in May.

The new charges, filed against Vicki G. Gilmore, 62, on September 29, also include aggravated assault and reckless endangerment. The new homicide charge is vehicular homicide (recklessness).

The original charges filed against Gilmore, who is suspected of using a narcotic pain-reliever, were vehicular homicide, driving under the influence, reckless driving, failure to maintain a single lane, leaving the scene of an accident, violation of the implied consent law, and duty upon striking a fixture. The original charges were filed in May.

A preliminary hearing has been set for 10 a.m. October 21 in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge. During a preliminary hearing, a judge can hear from victims, witnesses, and investigators, and determine whether charges should be bound over, or sent to a grand jury for its consideration. An indictment by a grand jury bumps a case from general sessions court to criminal court. [Read more…]

Father allegedly flees crash where injured son is trapped, then flees hospital nude, THP says

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Jacob Daniel Baxter

Jacob Daniel Baxter

 

An Anderson County man allegedly fled a crash where his juvenile son, who was partially ejected and injured, was trapped between a van and a barn, and the man later fled from a hospital nude, authorities said.

The crash was reported at about 11:29 p.m. Saturday, September 3, on Old Lake City Highway.

The Tennessee Highway Patrol said Jacob Daniel Baxter, 33, of Black Oak Road in Anderson County, was driving west in a white 1999 Dodge Caravan on Old Lake City Highway when he lost control while going round a curve. The van went off the right side of the road and stopped at a metal barn on the side of the road, according to the THP.

A 15-year-old boy, who is identified as Baxter’s son, was trapped between the van and the barn, according to arrest warrants filed by the THP in Anderson County General Sessions Court, Division I, in Clinton.

While Anderson County Rescue Squad personnel were helping to remove the trapped boy, Tennessee Highway Patrol Trooper Isaiah Lloyd began searching for the driver. [Read more…]

Preliminary hearing set for January in fatal car-motorcycle crash

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Rufus E. Shephard III and Motorcycle

Rufus E. Shephard III is pictured above riding a motorcycle. (Photo courtesy Annette Shephard)

 

A preliminary hearing has been set for January 2017 for a woman charged after a fatal car-motorcycle crash on North Illinois Avenue in January 2016, court officials said.

The preliminary hearing has been scheduled for 9 a.m. January 19, 2017, in Anderson County General Sessions Court Division II in Oak Ridge.

The defendant, Noelle Leigh Patty, 29, of Oak Ridge, has been charged with failure to yield the right-of-way, resulting in death; a violation of the law to obey traffic control devices; and a failure to provide proof of financial responsibility.

There was a status hearing for Patty on Thursday, although she did not have to appear. She was expected to enter a plea, waive the charges to a grand jury, or set a date for a preliminary hearing. [Read more…]

Charges in alleged robbery at Family Dollar in OS sent to grand jury

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Robbery charges filed against Steven Scruggs, 31, of Oliver Springs, in orange above, were sent to a grand jury during a preliminary hearing in Anderson County General Sessions Court, Division II, in Oak Ridge on Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was updated at 5:05 p.m.

The robbery, attempted robbery, and theft charges filed against an Oliver Springs man after an alleged robbery at Family Dollar in July have been sent to a grand jury.

Steven Scruggs, 31, had a preliminary hearing in Anderson County General Sessions Court, Division II, in Oak Ridge on Tuesday, August 23. His two co-defendants, also Oliver Springs residents, were in court as well. One pleaded guilty to one charge, and another waived one to a grand jury.

Anderson County General Sessions Court Judge Roger Miller found probable cause to send the robbery, attempted robbery, and theft charges filed against Scruggs to the grand jury after hearing testimony from employee Kimberly Armes, who was working at the store the evening of July 20, when the alleged robbery occurred, and from Oliver Springs Police Department Lieutenant David Laxton, who investigated it. All three charges are felony charges.

A false imprisonment charge that had also been filed against Scruggs was dismissed.

The robbery was reported at about 10:04 p.m. Wednesday, July 20, at the Family Dollar store, which is at 51 Edmonds Drive in Oliver Springs. [Read more…]

Defendant in fatal car-motorcycle crash expected to enter plea, waive charges to grand jury, or set preliminary hearing

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Rufus E. Shephard III and Motorcycle

Rufus E. Shephard III is pictured above riding a motorcycle. (Photo courtesy Annette Shephard)

 

An Oak Ridge woman facing three misdemeanor charges in a fatal car-motorcycle crash on North Illinois Avenue in January is expected to enter a plea next week, waive the charges to a grand jury, or set a date for a preliminary hearing, court officials said Thursday.

Judge Roger Miller, of Anderson County General Sessions Court Division II in Oak Ridge, said he doesn’t want to reset the case against Noelle Leigh Patty, 29, again. Patty had a status hearing on Thursday, September 1.

She has another status hearing set for 9 a.m. Thursday, September 8, in the Division II court in Oak Ridge. Patty does not have to appear.

The three misdemeanor charges filed against her are failure to yield the right-of-way, resulting in death; a violation of the law to obey traffic control devices; and a failure to provide proof of financial responsibility.

Authorities said Patty, who was driving a Cadillac STS on Sunday evening, January 31, made an improper left turn from a right-turn-only lane at the western exit of the Westcott Center, the Kroger shopping center, and she failed to yield to Rufus E. Shephard III, 44, of Oak Ridge, who was riding a Kawasaki Ninja motorcycle north on North Illinois Avenue. Shephard died after colliding with the car, which was turning south in “the pathway of northbound traffic,” Oak Ridge Police Department Officer Chris Luethge said in arrest warrants filed after the crash. [Read more…]

Attempted first-degree murder charge reduced to felony reckless endangerment, sent to grand jury

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Eric Joe Wilson

Eric Joe Wilson

 

The attempted first-degree murder charge filed against an Oak Ridge man after he allegedly shot his sister in the ear in April was reduced to felony reckless endangerment last week and waived to the Anderson County Grand Jury for its consideration.

The state will not pursue a second charge, an aggravated assault charge, against Eric Joe Wilson, 42. That charge was dismissed.

Wilson was to be released on intensified felony pre-trial release, and as part of that release, he is supposed to continue mental health treatment and his family is supposed to monitor his medications.

Anderson County General Sessions Court Judge Roger Miller agreed to remove a no-contact provision that was part of Wilson’s pre-trial release. Wilson’s sister, Suzan Stiles, the victim in the alleged shooting, said she takes care of Wilson, and he’s not done anything like this before. Miller confirmed with Stiles that she had not been threatened or intimidated into making the request. [Read more…]

Vehicular homicide, other charges sent to grand jury in Clinton Highway crash

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Scott Gray, who has been charged with vehicular homicide, among other counts, is pictured above in Anderson County General Sessions Court, Division I, in Clinton on Thursday, Aug. 11, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

CLINTON—Tennessee Highway Patrol troopers testified Thursday that a driver charged with vehicular homicide smelled of alcohol and said he had been drinking and had taken two anti-anxiety pills before a two-vehicle crash on Clinton Highway in April that resulted in the death of a 23-year-old Heiskell woman.

There was a half-empty bottle of whiskey found between the driver’s seat and the rocker panel of the 1993 Eagle four-door sedan, according to testimony by a crash witness and THP Trooper Isaiah Lloyd, the lead trooper in the investigation. Lloyd testified that he saw a glass marijuana pipe with residue in the center console of the car, a marijuana joint inside a prescription bottle, and at least six beer cans on the passenger floorboard of the car, although it wasn’t clear if the cans were empty or full.

The THP said Scott Gray, 26, of Knoxville, was driving north on Clinton Highway in the Eagle sedan near Mehaffey Road on Thursday evening, April 28, when he turned into the path of a southbound 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee sport utility vehicle driven by Kimberly Williamson, 32, of Knoxville. The SUV driven by Williamson hit the car driven by Gray.

The passenger side of the Eagle had significant damage, and passenger Jessica Miner Taylor, 23, of Heiskell, was trapped and critically injured. After she was extricated, she was flown by a Lifestar medical helicopter to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville, authorities said. She was immediately taken into the operating room because her bladder was torn from the crash, Lloyd said in arrest warrants filed in May.

Gray was taken by ambulance to UT Medical Center the day of the crash. Williamson had minor injuries, and she was taken in a personal vehicle to Tennova North, where she was treated and released, authorities said earlier.

Miner died from her injuries about a week after the crash, on Friday, May 6, according to her obituary. [Read more…]

Attempted second-degree murder, aggravated kidnapping charges dismissed

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Jacob Lynn Rutherford

Jacob Lynn Rutherford

Four charges against an Oak Ridge man that included attempted second-degree murder and especially aggravated kidnapping were dismissed in July after a victim or state witness failed to appear, according to court records and court officials.

Jacob Lynn Rutherford, 22, had also been charged with aggravated assault and assault. Those charges were also dismissed.

Rutherford had been charged in two separate alleged assaults this year, one on February 25 and another on April 28. Police responded to both alleged assaults at 101 Locust Lane, where Rutherford lives.

Rutherford allegedly used a metal rod in one of the beatings, authorities said, and he was also accused of hitting the woman in the head with a gun and forcing her into his vehicle at gunpoint, according to arrest warrants.

The charges were dismissed in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge on July 26, when a state witness or victim did not appear. Judgements on the aggravated assault and especially aggravated kidnapping charges said the victim failed to appear. That’s the same victim as in the attempted second-degree murder charge. [Read more…]

Demonstrator arrested after annual march to Y-12

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Beth Rosdatter of Lexington, Kentucky, in white T-shirt, was arrested on a state misdemeanor charge of obstructing a highway after she walked up to the federal “blue line” and sat on the pavement in front of it at the main entrance to the Y-12 National Security Complex on East Bear Creek Road on Saturday, Aug. 6, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 9:45 p.m. Aug. 7.

A Kentucky woman was arrested on a state misdemeanor charge after she walked up to the federal “blue line” at the front entrance of the Y-12 National Security Complex on East Bear Creek Road on Saturday afternoon and sat down on the pavement at the main entrance to the nuclear weapons plant.

Ralph Hutchison, coordinator of the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance, said Rosdatter, a 55-year-old mother who has a doctorate in philosophy, did not cross the blue line. Crossing it can result in federal charges.

In an apparent act of civil disobedience, Rosdatter sat in the roadway, on the hot asphalt near the blue line. She appeared to be questioned by Y-12 security officers and the Oak Ridge Police Department and then detained by the ORPD.

Also Saturday, Michael Walli, one of three protesters who broke into Y-12 on July 28, 2012, and splashed blood and sprayed graffiti on the Highly Enriched Uranium Materials Facility as part of an effort to protest nuclear weapons, helped lead a two-mile nuclear disarmament march to Y-12 from Alvin K. Bissell Park in central Oak Ridge. Rosdatter’s arrest followed that march.

Walli was released from prison along with his two fellow protesters, Megan Rice and Greg Boertje-Obed, on May 16, 2015, eight days after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit overturned their more serious felony sabotage convictions. [Read more…]

Driver in alleged hit-and-run with pedestrians faces more charges

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Steven Ray Buxton

Steven Ray Buxton

The driver in an alleged hit-and-run that injured two female pedestrians on East Tennessee Avenue on Monday afternoon is facing more charges, in addition to aggravated assault, according to court records.

Steven Ray Buxton, 62, of Jefferson Avenue in Oak Ridge, has been charged with two counts of aggravated assault, two counts of leaving the scene of an accident, driving under the influence, and failure to maintain a lane, according to arrest warrants filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge.

The women were struck by a vehicle on East Tennessee Avenue near Towne Road at about 1:30 p.m. Monday as several pedestrians were crossing the road from Gallo Loco restaurant, which is on the south side of East Tennessee, to the north side of the road, the Oak Ridge Police Department said.

In a press release earlier this week, the ORPD said a black truck had stopped for the pedestrians while they crossed the street. A beige Toyota Corolla, which was traveling behind the black truck, drove onto the sidewalk, passing the black truck, and struck two women, the press release said. The Toyota Corolla then allegedly fled the scene. [Read more…]

In child abuse case, police allegedly find drugs, knives; dog urine, feces; roaches, dirty dishes

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Jordan Tyler Etheridge and Honey Lee Hook July 2016

Jordan Tyler Etheridge, left, and Honey Lee Hook are pictured above. (Photos by Anderson County Sheriff’s Department)

 

An Oak Ridge man and woman were charged with aggravated child abuse and neglect after police conducting a welfare check on North Hollywood Circle on Saturday allegedly found drugs, paraphernalia, and several knives lying where a small child could reach them; dog urine and feces in several spots on the floor; roaches and dirty dishes with mold and bugs throughout the home; no running water that an officer could find; and a large bucket of dirty water in the middle of the floor, court records said.

The bathroom toilet was full of human waste, and there was a “foul odor throughout the residence,” according to arrest warrants filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge.

There were several small individual wrapped plastic baggies lying in plain sight on the living room floor, and some had a green leafy substance inside that looked and smelled like marijuana and several had a white powdery substance inside them, packaged for resale, Oak Ridge Police Department Officer Sherrill Selby said in the warrants. There were two spoons with a white powder substance on them lying on a television stand, Selby said.

The home is within 1,000 feet of the playground of the Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge, making it a drug-free school zone, the warrants said. [Read more…]