Oak Ridge Today

Traffic delays expected in Anderson County during presidential visit Friday

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President Obama and Vice President Biden in Limo July 21, 2010

President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden ride in the motorcade from the White House to the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, D.C., on July 21, 2010, to sign the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. (Official White House photo by Pete Souza) 

There will be some traffic delays in Anderson County on Friday because the presidential motorcade will be traveling through the county, including the cities of Oak Ridge and Clinton, authorities said.

But the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department said it cannot release the times, the motorcade route, or the duration of the traffic delays.

“We also cannot release any other information concerning this event,” the Sheriff’s Department said.

The City of Oak Ridge also announced Thursday that traffic in Oak Ridge could be disrupted during the Friday afternoon visit to west Knox County and Clinton by President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, and Biden’s wife Jill. [Read more…]

AC, Clinton schools closing early Friday; police prepare for presidential visit

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President Barack Obama

President Barack Obama

Schools in Clinton and Anderson County will close early on Friday so buses can miss the traffic congestion and closed roads that are expected when President Barack Obama visits.

Dozens of intersections along the motorcade’s expected route will have to be covered, Clinton Police Chief Rick Scarbrough told WYSH Radio.

Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, and Biden’s wife Jill will visit Clinton manufacturer Techmer PM after the president speaks at Pellissippi State Community College in west Knox County. The visit to Clinton will be the first for a president. [Read more…]

Rocky Top man dies after shooting described as accidental

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Anderson County Sheriff Patch

A Rocky Top man died in what was reported to be an accidental shooting on Dutch Valley Road in Anderson County on Tuesday night, authorities said.

Christopher Scott Cody Bunch, 23, was unresponsive and lying on the floor with a gunshot wound to the chest when Anderson County Sheriff’s Department deputies responded to a home on Dutch Valley Road at about 9:57 p.m. Tuesday, an incident report said. A neighbor who is certified in first aid and had been called over was sitting next to Bunch holding a towel on the wound, the report said.

Paramedics responded and tried to save Bunch, but he was pronounced dead just after 10 p.m., the report said.

Joseph Eric McClane, of Clinton, told Anderson County Sheriff’s Department Deputy Joshua A. Humphrey that he accidentally shot Bunch, his friend, the report said. [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…]

Report: Stolen BMW set on fire on Old Batley Road

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A BMW that had been reported stolen in Oak Ridge burned on Old Batley Road on Saturday, authorities said.

The fire appeared to have been set intentionally in the front passenger seat of the green four-door sedan, according to volunteer firefighters from Marlow, Anderson County Sheriff’s Department Deputy James Presson wrote in an incident report. Valued at about $6,900, the 2000 BMW 3-series car was towed to Tate’s Towing in Oak Ridge. [Read more…]

After tip, investigative work, sex offender wanted in Sullivan arrested in Heiskell

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Glen Reed Keller

Glen Reed Keller

After a tip by a resident and investigative work by dispatchers, Anderson County deputies on Tuesday arrested a man in Heiskell who was wanted by the Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office in Blountville for violating the sexual offender registry.

Glen Reed Keller, 43, was arrested Tuesday evening at a home on White Oak Lane in Heiskell community, Anderson County  Sheriff’s Department Chief Deputy Mark Lucas said.

The Anderson County Communications Center had received a tip from a citizen who had watched a news report on television concerning Keller. Dispatchers had seen the same broadcast. The Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office had sent a news release to the local media in the Tri-Cities, area which was shared with a local TV outlet in Knoxville, Lucas said. [Read more…]

Sheriff: 25 indicted on drug charges

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Paul White

Paul White

Note: This story was updated at 11:45 a.m.

Twenty-five people were indicted on drug-related charges by an Anderson County Grand Jury in November after investigations by the Sheriff’s Special Operations Unit, authorities said Wednesday.

Deputies have been out making arrests on these indictments while also continuing investigations on related drug activity, Anderson County Sheriff Paul White said in a Wednesday morning press release.

The drug investigations were conducted during the last few months. White said the indictments were for the manufacture, sales, delivery, or possession of illegal drugs, and those indicted either sold to undercover agents or possessed drugs for resale.

“These indictments primarily include charges resulting from sale or possession for resale of prescription or legend drugs, as well as marijuana and methamphetamine-related offenses,” White said. [Read more…]

Anderson County sheriff warns of telephone scams

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Paul White

Paul White

The Knox County Sheriff’s Office is putting out a warning about a telephone scam that is again circulating in Knox County. The caller pretends to be a sheriff’s deputy or court official and says that the person has an outstanding warrant, didn’t report for jury duty, or has a failure to appear, and that it can be taken care of with a certain amount of money. He then says the money can be transferred to the caller with a Greet Dot card, prepaid credit card, or to meet and bring the “cash bond.”

This same scam occurred earlier in the year in our area, including Anderson County, Anderson County Sheriff Paul White said. So far, no new cases have been reported in Anderson County, but the scam appears to target residents in all of our area counties. [Read more…]

Driver stable with minor injuries after car rolls, hits tree

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Oliver Springs Highway Crash

The male driver of this Ford Taurus was stable with minor injuries after going off Oliver Springs Highway, rolling down a drop-off, and hitting a large tree, authorities said. The driver had to be extricated and was taken by ambulance to Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge. (Photos by Tom Scott)

 

Rescuers had to extricate the male driver of a car that rolled down a drop-off alongside Oliver Springs Highway and hit a large tree Tuesday morning, and the man was in stable condition with minor injuries, authorities said.

The single-vehicle crash was reported at about 6:50 a.m. Tuesday on Oliver Springs Highway near Bill Key Lane.

The Ford Taurus was headed toward Oliver Springs when it rolled a few times down a 10- to 15-foot drop-off alongside the highway, said Stephanie Fox, assistant chief of the Marlow Volunteer Fire Department. The car stopped when it hit a large tree, she said. [Read more…]

More than $4,000 worth of tobacco stolen in Edgemoor Road burglary

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Marathon Gas Station on Edgemoor Road

More than $4,000 worth of tobacco was stolen from this Marathon gas station on Edgemoor Road in a Tuesday morning burglary, authorities said.

 

Marathon Gas Station Door After Burglary

Video footage from the store’s security system showed an unidentified man using what appeared to be a crowbar to break this glass door before entering the store and putting cigarettes and smokeless tobacco into a bag, authorities said.

More than $4,000 worth of tobacco was stolen from a gas station in a burglary on Edgemoor Road early Tuesday morning, authorities said.

The burglary at the Marathon gas station and store at 1060 Edgemoor Road occurred just before 3:30 a.m. Tuesday, according to store owner Sunil Patel of Oak Ridge.

Video footage from the store’s security system shows a white man of medium build using what appears to be a crowbar to break the glass on a front door before entering the store, Anderson County Sheriff’s Department Deputy Michael A. Poole said in an incident report. The unidentified man then went behind the counter and placed cigarettes and cans of smokeless tobacco into a bag, Poole said. [Read more…]

Sheriff reminds Thanksgiving travelers to buckle up

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Buckle Up America Logo

The Anderson County Sheriff’s Department is joining in a national effort to reach out to all Thanksgiving travelers with one important message: Buckle up.

Historically, Thanksgiving is the busiest travel time of the year, putting more people on the road, and unfortunately increasing the likelihood of crashes, Anderson County Sheriff Paul White said in a press release.

Each year in the United States, tens of thousands of passenger vehicle occupants die in motor vehicle crashes. In 2012, more than 300 people were killed in crashes on Thanksgiving weekend alone. It’s a sad statistic, but even sadder is that many of those deaths could have been prevented with one simple click of a seat belt, White said. [Read more…]

Grandson charged with aggravated robbery after alleged knifepoint theft

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Joseph Tyler Collins

Joseph Tyler Collins

The 18-year-old Anderson County man accused of robbing his grandfather with the help of a second man armed with a knife was arrested Tuesday, authorities said.

Joseph Tyler Collins has been charged with aggravated robbery and is being held in the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton, said Mark Lucas, Anderson County Sheriff’s Department chief deputy. Collins’ bond has been set at $75,000.

Collins’ grandfather, Genis Hawkins, reported that he was robbed at knifepoint by his grandson and the second unidentified man, who was wearing a green rag over his face and holding a 15-inch-long knife, on November 20. Collins was arrested at a Clinton home on Tuesday afternoon.

Lucas said Sheriff’s Department investigators are still working to identify the others involved in the robbery. [Read more…]