Oak Ridge Today

Updated: Sharps Chapel man dies in Andersonville shooting

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A Sharps Chapel man died in a Sunday afternoon shooting in Andersonville, authorities said.

James Alvin Russell, 58, was pronounced dead at the scene, the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department said.

The shooting was reported at 4:35 p.m. Sunday at 1229 Sequoyah Road. In a Sunday evening statement, Chief Deputy Mark Lucas said the victim was dead when deputies arrived, and the shooter was still there.

In a statement later Sunday night, Lucas said Sheriff’s Department investigators were processing the crime scene and interviewing the person responsible for the shooting, as well as a witness. [Read more…]

Alternatives to Incarceration to discuss hiring a director

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Anderson County Detention Facility

The Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton is pictured above.

The Anderson County Alternatives to Incarceration Committee will discuss the hiring of a director for the Alternatives to Incarceration Department during a meeting in Clinton today (Tuesday, October 21).

The meeting starts at 4 p.m. at the Anderson County Detention Facility at 308 Public Safety Lane.

For more information, call Anderson County Sheriff’s Department Captain Larry Davidson at (865) 457-7100.

Sheriff’s Department asks for help finding missing man

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Michael Miller Missing Person

 

The Anderson County Sheriff’s Department is asking for the public’s help in locating a missing person, Michael David Miller, 42. Miller was last seen on Sunday, October 5, at his parent’s home in Claxton.

He exchanged text messages with a friend on Tuesday, October 7, but has not been heard from since.

Miller is described as 5 feet, 7 inches tall, and 150 pounds. He has blond hair and hazel eyes. [Read more…]

Five clerks cited after beer ‘sting’ in Anderson County

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Paul White

Paul White

Five businesses in Anderson County sold beer to an underage person during a September 29 “sting,” and five clerks have been cited to court, Sheriff Paul White said Monday.

The Anderson County Sheriff’s Department conducted the sting in cooperation with the Rocky Top Police Department, the Oliver Springs Police Department, and Allies for Substance Abuse Prevention of Anderson County, or ASAP.

Investigators with the Sheriff’s Special Operations Unit visited 20 businesses to try to buy beer during the compliance checks, White said. He said all 20 businesses checked for identification showing the person to be under 21, but five still sold beer to the underage person.

White said the following businesses sold beer to the underage person: [Read more…]

ORAU donates to new foundation for fallen, injured officers

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ORAU Donates to Scott Foundation

ORAU Executive Vice President Eric Abelquist, left, and ORAU Senior Associate Director for Scientific Assessment and Workforce Development Tony Lester, right, present ORAU employee Jody Crisp with a $1,000 check to help her new nonprofit organization that supports local police officers and their families, the SCOTT Foundation, named in honor of her late husband. (Photo courtesy ORAU)

 

SCOTT Foundation provides support to area police officers and their families

Oak Ridge Associated Universities donated $1,000 to help jumpstart a new nonprofit organization, the SCOTT Foundation, founded by one of its employees in honor of her late husband.

After Jody Crisp’s husband, Scott, died in 2013 following a swimming pool accident, she said she wanted to make something good come of it. She founded the Sharing Compassion for Officers Through Tributes, or SCOTT, Foundation, named in honor of her late husband. Established in 2013, the SCOTT Foundation provides financial assistance for various expenses of fallen, seriously injured, or ill police officers and their families throughout East Tennessee.

Allen “Scott” Crisp spent his career in law enforcement. He served with the Clinton Police Department, Anderson County Sheriff’s Department, U.S. Air Marshal, and B&W Y-12 as a special response team security police officer. [Read more…]

Body found in Andersonville; death ruled suicide

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Information from WYSH Radio

A 56-year-old Knoxville woman committed suicide in the woods off of Indian Gap Road in Andersonville, according to a report from the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department.

Deputies responding to a report of a suspicious vehicle in a gravel pull-off on Indian Gap found the car unoccupied on Tuesday evening with a woman’s identification and other personal belongings inside the vehicle.

Deputies contacted the Knox County Sheriff’s Office since her information identified her as a Knox resident, and they learned that the woman and her husband had been involved in a domestic dispute the previous night. Her husband told investigators that he had called the KCSO, but that his wife had left their home before deputies arrived. [Read more…]

Grandfather dies, granddaughter injured in ATV crash on Windrock Mountain

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A Georgia grandfather died and his granddaughter was injured when an all-terrain vehicle went over a 60-foot embankment on Windrock Mountain on Saturday afternoon, authorities said.

Lindon Joald Lightsey, 68, of Baxley, Georgia, was fatally injured in the ATV crash north of Oliver Springs, the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department said. His 12-year-old granddaughter was taken to the University of Tennessee Medical Center with non-life threatening injuries.

Anderson County Sheriff’s Department Chief Deputy Mark Lucas said deputies and emergency personnel were called to the crash at about 2 p.m. Saturday. [Read more…]

Police ID driver, passenger in fatal pond crash

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England Road Pond

The Oliver Springs Police Department has identified the driver who died and the passenger who escaped after a Mazda MX3 coupe crashed into this pond on England Drive on Tuesday night.

Note: This story was last updated at 5:30 p.m.

The Oliver Springs Police Department has identified the woman who died and the passenger who escaped after a car crashed into a pond on England Drive on Tuesday night.

Driver Amy Hall, 23, of Oliver Springs, ran off the road into the private pond sometime before 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, when the OSPD was notified of the accident.

“Members of the Oliver Springs police and fire departments responded and learned that a vehicle was submerged in the pond and one person, Donna McMillian, age 54, was able to get out of the vehicle and make it out of the water—and reported that another person was still in the vehicle,” Oliver Springs Police Chief Kenneth Morgan said in a Wednesday press release. “Members of the Fire Department entered the water but were unable to locate the vehicle.”

Morgan said the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department Dive Team was called for assistance. Sheriff Paul White, Oliver Springs Fireman Adam Daugherty, and Marlow Fireman T.J. Giles entered the water and were able to locate Hall and the red two-door Mazda MX3 coupe at about 10 p.m. and help remove them with the help of two tow trucks about an hour later. White said divers, who emerged from the water covered in dark silt, could only see a few inches in front of their goggles under water. [Read more…]

Driver dies, passenger escapes when car crashes into pond

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England Road Fatal Pond Crash

Rescuers call in a tow truck to pull a car out of a pond on England Road on Tuesday night. The driver of the car died in the crash, but the passenger escaped.

OLIVER SRINGS—A female driver died and a passenger escaped Tuesday night when a small car crashed into a private pond on England Road in Oliver Springs.

Oliver Springs Police Chief Kenneth Morgan said the driver and female passenger won’t be identified until relatives have been notified.

The crash occurred sometime before 8:30 p.m. Tuesday. Property owner Marcia Pemberton said she came out of her house around then and heard screaming. At first, she thought it was family members playing at the dam at the pond. But then she realized these were different screams—screams for help, Pemberton said.

“Then I took off running,” she said.

The passenger was in a corner of the 18-foot-deep pond, hanging onto a tree and unable to get out because of the steep banks. There’s a car in the water, the woman told Pemberton. [Read more…]

Officers cracking down on drunk, impaired drivers on Labor Day weekend

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Drive Sober

The Anderson County Sheriff’s Department will be out in force this Labor Day holiday as part of the “Drive Sober Or Get Pulled Over” crackdown on drunk driving, a press release said.

“This effective nationwide campaign will include high-visibility enforcement throughout Anderson County,” Sheriff Paul White said in a press release. “The ‘Drive Sober Or Get Pulled Over’ campaign will focus on drunk and impaired drivers with increased enforcement.”

The Anderson County Sheriff’s Department will take part in this campaign by saturation patrols during the Labor Day holiday period, which runs through September 1. The Anderson County Sheriff’s Department will be conducting a Drunk Driving Prevention Campaign on Friday, August 29, in cooperation with the Tennessee Highway Patrol. Sheriff’s deputies and state troopers will take aim at impaired or drunk drivers throughout Anderson County in an effort to reduce traffic crashes and fatalities, White said. [Read more…]

Woman escapes injury, drives away from fake officer with knife

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Anderson County Sheriff Logo

A 49-year-old woman escaped injury on Monday night when she drove away from a man who pretended to be a police officer but pulled a knife after stopping her on Yarnell Road near Clinton, authorities said.

It’s the second report of a police impersonator in Anderson County this month.

The woman was pulled over by the man at about 9:45 p.m. Monday on Yarnell Road off East Wolf Valley Road, Anderson County Sheriff’s Department Chief Deputy Mark Lucas said.

“He approached the victim and asked for her driver’s license,” Lucas said. “He then pulled a knife, and she immediately drove away and called 911.”

In this case, the descriptions of both the suspect and his car are different from the previous incident. The suspect in the Monday night incident was described as a white male in his mid- or late-20s to mid-30s, six feet tall, 200 pounds, clean-shaven, with a muscular build and short dark brown hair. He reportedly spoke with a soft voice. The suspect was well-dressed wearing dark civilian clothing (not a uniform) and had a badge on his belt. The victim did not see a firearm, Lucas said. [Read more…]

Motorcyclist dies in four-vehicle crash on Edgemoor Road

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Fatal Crash on Edgemoor Road

Edgemoor Road was closed for several hours near the Bull Run Fossil Plant on Wednesday evening as authorities investigated a four-vehicle crash that killed a motorcyclist.

 

CLAXTON—A Powell motorcyclist died Wednesday afternoon in a four-vehicle crash on Edgemoor Road in front of the Bull Run Fossil Plant, authorities said.

Kenneth Lubthisophon, 55, was riding east on Edgemoor Road at about 4:41 p.m. Wednesday when he hit the left rear of a car driven by a 54-year-old Knoxville woman who was slowing down for stopped traffic, the Tennessee Highway Patrol said.

Lubthisophon’s 1989 Honda G15 was then hit from behind by a pickup truck driven by a 25-year-old Clinton man, and Lubthisophon was thrown from the motorcycle into the westbound traffic lane, where he was hit by a second pickup truck driven by a 70-year-old Clinton man, according to a preliminary THP report.

Lubthisophon was wearing a helmet, the report said. [Read more…]