Oak Ridge Today

Driver injured after car, reported as stolen, crashes into water near Bull Run Park

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The Anderson County Rescue Squad searches for a vehicle that was reported to go into the water off New Henderson Road near Bull Run Park just after 8 p.m. Wednesday, March 8, 2017.

The Anderson County Rescue Squad searches for a vehicle that went off New Henderson Road and into Bull Run Creek near Bull Run Park in Claxton on Wednesday evening, March 8, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 1 p.m. March 9.

CLAXTON—The driver of a car that had been reported stolen was injured when the vehicle plunged off New Henderson Road and into deep water near Bull Run Park in Claxton on Wednesday evening, authorities said.

When deputies arrived, the driver was found lying on the embankment near the water, Anderson County Sheriff’s Department Chief Deputy Mark Lucas said.

Rescuers received a report that two men working at a nearby home heard the crash and pulled the driver of the car from the water to safety, Lucas said.

Divers from the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department, Anderson County Rescue Squad, and Knoxville Volunteer Rescue Squad checked the car and surrounding area in the water, but no other occupants were found, according to Lucas and Claxton Volunteer Fire Department Assistant Chief Dusty Sharpe and Lieutenant Mike Dabney.

Authorities said the driver was not initially alert. He was taken by ambulance to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville, Dabney said. The driver’s name, age, and condition weren’t available Wednesday night. [Read more…]

Juvenile dies after dirt bike crash

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A juvenile died after a dirt bike crash in Anderson County on Wednesday afternoon, authorities said.

The crash on private property was reported at about 3 p.m. Wednesday at a home on Hickory Valley Road in Heiskell, according to a preliminary crash report by the Tennessee Highway Patrol.

The 17-year-old was driving the off-road Kawasaki motorcycle in a back yard but was not wearing a helmet, the THP said. The juvenile lost control in pine needles, struck a tree head-on, and was thrown from the bike, the report said. [Read more…]

Letter: Please contribute to help firefighters, first responders

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To the Editor:

We’ve all been praying for rain, perhaps several times a day. This drought has been affecting our area for over four months now.

Because it’s been so dry, there’s been a ban on fires. You’ve heard the reports: No open fires. No fire pits or campfires. No grilling whether charcoal or gas. No throwing down a cigarette butt. No burning of brush or rubbish.

If you were going to ask, the answer would be a simple “NO!”

As a result, someone has, or did because they figured it was OK. Whether it was intentional or not. It happened. Fires popped up here and there. On the mountain side, at the campground, someone’s backyard, or even a spark from an engine. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge man killed when car crashes into tree stumps, house

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Note: This story was last updated at 10:10 a.m.

A 25-year-old Oak Ridge man died Monday night after a car crashed into tree stumps on East Wolf Valley Road, overturned into a parked car, and hit a house, authorities said.

The man was identified as Albert W. Brown, 25, of Oak Ridge.

He was a passenger in a 2001 Audi ATQ driven by Mark E. Floer, 52, of Heiskell, according to the Tennessee Highway Patrol.

The THP said Floer was driving the Audi east on East Wolf Valley Road at about 10:45 p.m. Monday when he left the right side of the roadway, hit two tree stumps, overturned and hit a parked 1998 Ford Escape and then a house. [Read more…]

Two serious crashes, one fatal, reported in Anderson County on Monday

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Two serious crashes, one of them fatal, were reported in Anderson County on Monday, authorities said.

The first two-vehicle crash was reported at about 9:30 p.m. Monday on Yarnell Road near East Wolf Valley Road. Three people were injured, and all three were taken to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville by ambulance, said Mark Lucas, Anderson County Sheriff’s Department chief deputy.

The second crash, a fatal crash, was reported at about 10:45 p.m. Monday on East Wolf Valley Road near Nolan Lane. The car ran off the road and hit a home, Lucas said. One person was killed, and the other was transported to the UT Medical Center. [Read more…]

Two killed, four injured in four-vehicle crash on Clinton Highway

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anderson-county-sheriffs-department-clinton-highway-sept-30-2016

A Georgia man and a Powell man who were in a vehicle that fled a traffic stop in Knox County were killed in a four-vehicle crash on Clinton Highway in Anderson County late Friday morning, authorities said. A short section of Clinton Highway was closed for about five hours between Mehaffey Road and Old Clinton Pike as the Tennessee Highway Patrol investigated the fatal crash, which also injured four people. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

A Georgia man and a Powell man who were in a vehicle that fled a traffic stop in Knox County were killed in a four-vehicle crash on Clinton Highway in Anderson County late Friday morning, authorities said.

Four other people were injured in the crash, according to the Tennessee Highway Patrol.

The men who died were driver Roy Simmons, 29, of Helena, Georgia, and passenger Charles Miller, 25, of Powell, Tennessee, the THP said in a fatal crash report. The two men were in a 2001 Ford TSS driven by Simmons.

The crash was reported at about 11:32 a.m. Friday on Clinton Highway near the intersection with Old Clinton Pike in Anderson County, near the Anderson-Knox county line, the THP said.

The fatal crash report said a Knox County Sheriff’s Office deputy was trying to stop the car driven by Simmons in the northbound lanes of Clinton Highway near West Beaver Creek in Knox County, but the car fled. While fleeing, the car lost control and crossed the center line while going left around a curve, the crash report said. [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…]

Eight injured in motorcycle, car-semi crashes on I-75 in Anderson County

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The UT Lifestar II helicopter and Lifestar IV helicopter are pictured at top right and bottom left on Interstate 75 in Anderson County on Saturday morning, Sept. 10, 2016, after one crash involving four motorcycles and another involving a semi and two other vehicles were reported. Authorities said eight people were injured in the two crashes. (Photo courtesy UT Lifestar)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 12:10 p.m. Sept. 11.

Six people were injured in one crash involving four motorcycles and two more were injured in a second crash involving two vehicles and a semi on Interstate 75 in Anderson County on Saturday morning, authorities said.

The two crashes occurred about 30 minutes apart in the northbound and southbound lanes of I-75 near mile marker 127, near Rocky Top (the former Lake City).

Two University of Tennessee Lifestar medical helicopters responded, and all four lanes were temporarily closed.

The first crash was reported at about 10:16 a.m, according to a Tennessee Highway Patrol preliminary crash report.

Four Harley Davidson motorcycles were traveling north in one lane of I-75 at mile marker 127 when the first motorcycle, a 2003 model driven by George Suver, 70, left the right shoulder and then swerved back into the lane, the THP said. [Read more…]

Two injured, one picked up by medical helicopter after head-on crash on Mahoney Road

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Two-Car Crash on Mahoney Road July 21 2016 Slider

Two people were injured and one was picked up by a medical helicopter after a head-on two-vehicle crash on Mahoney Road in Oliver Springs on Thursday, July 21, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was updated at 12:30 a.m.

OLIVER SPRINGS—Two drivers were injured and one was picked up by a medical helicopter after a head-on two-vehicle crash on Mahoney Road in Oliver Springs on Thursday afternoon, authorities said.

The crash was reported at about 12:30 p.m. Thursday near New Mountain View Baptist Church. Charges are pending against one of the drivers, according to the Tennessee Highway Patrol.

The THP said a 1997 Cadillac STS driven by Blake Brakins, 33, of Oak Ridge, was traveling south on Mahoney Road when it crossed over the center line and crashed head-on into a 2016 Ford Fusion traveling north on Mahoney Road and driven by Isabel Cates, 80, of Oliver Springs.

Brakins and Cates were both injured, the THP said. Cates was wearing a seat belt, while Brakins was not, authorities said. [Read more…]

Updated: Man drowns after jumping off houseboat at Sequoyah Marina

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Note: This story was last updated at 3:40 p.m. July 3.

ANDERSONVILLE—A man drowned after jumping off a houseboat a few hours before a fireworks show at Sequoyah Marina in Andersonville on Saturday evening, authorities said.

The man was reported to have jumped into the water from the top deck of a large houseboat tied to the shore along with other houseboats, said Mark Lucas, chief deputy of the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department.

He said the Sheriff’s Department is investigating the possibility that the man might have hit his head on another boat.

Divers recovered the man’s body under water, authorities said. His name and age haven’t been released yet.

Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency Sergeant Roy Smith requested rescuers after he received a report that a man jumped off either a bridge or a wall about 35 feet into the water, spokesman Matthew Cameron said Sunday.
[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…]

Bluegrass music featured in benefit for Colton Stout Memorial Scholarship

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Follow-Chaos-Evening-of-Bluegrass-Colton-Stout-Memorial-Scholarship-2016-1

Bluegrass music and barbecue will be featured in a scholarship benefit show in Oak Ridge on April 8.

The show is titled “Follow Chaos: An Evening of Bluegrass.” It’s at the historic Grove Theatre in Oak Ridge at 7 p.m. Friday, April 8.

The show will feature area bluegrass musicians Mason T. and Carl Capps, and Hardin Valley Thunder.

“This special night is a benefit for the Colton Stout Memorial Scholarship and promises to be an evening of homegrown, finger-picking musicianship, and finger-licking cuisine with catering by Buddy’s Barbecue,” a press release said.

Established in 2014, the Colton Stout Memorial Scholarship helps selected students obtain their EMT-Advanced Certification. For students, this evening’s benefit concert is confirmation that everyday offers an opportunity to change someone’s life for the better, the press release said.

Colton Stout served admirably as a Campbell County EMT-IV, was a proud member of the Anderson County Rescue Squad, and a firefighter with Marlow Volunteer Fire Department. Helping others was vitally important to Colton, and it is the Colton Stout Memorial Scholarship’s mission to carry on his commitment to helping others by awarding scholarships each year to individuals who share similar goals of service. [Read more…]