Oak Ridge Today

Andersonville man dies after jumping into pond while fleeing from deputies

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Ron Walter Austin

Ron Walter Austin

 

An Andersonville man died after jumping into a pond in Claxton while fleeing from Anderson County Sheriff’s Department deputies on Thursday night, authorities said.

The man has been identified as Ron Walter Austin, 41.

The chase started at about 11:45 p.m. Thursday when Anderson County Sheriff’s Department narcotics investigators observed what was believed to be a drug transaction between people in two vehicles in a business parking lot near North Charles G. Seivers Boulevard in Clinton, Chief Deputy Mark Lucas said Friday night.

Deputies attempted to stop both vehicles as they left the parking lot, Lucas said. One vehicle did stop, but the other fled from North Charles G. Seivers Boulevard onto Interstate 75, where deputies saw the driver throw out an article out of the car window, Lucas said. [Read more…]

Man dies in Clinton Highway crash

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An 86-year-old man died in a two-vehicle crash on Clinton Highway late Tuesday afternoon, authorities said.

Fred Lay, who has a Clinton address, was driving east on Bull Run Road in Claxton in a 2005 Mercury Sable car when he turned onto southbound US Highway 25W (Clinton Highway), the Tennessee Highway Patrol said in a report. His vehicle turned into the path of a 2005 Chevrolet Trailblazer sport utility vehicle driven south in the inside lane of Clinton Highway by Marissa N. McCormick, 27, of Powell, and the two vehicles collided, the report said.

Southbound Clinton Highway heads toward Knoxville.

Lay died due to the crash, which was reported at about 4:56 p.m. Tuesday, the THP said. McCormick was not injured. [Read more…]

Anderson County residents among 44 indicted in meth distribution conspiracy

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A group of Anderson County residents was part of an alleged methamphetamine distribution ring that involved 44 people and a conspiracy to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine in East Tennessee and elsewhere, federal officials said Monday.

A 30-count indictment was returned against the 44 people by a federal grand jury in Greeneville in East Tennessee on January 9. Among those indicted were nine residents of Clinton, Oliver Springs, Powell, and Rocky Top, according to a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Eastern District of Tennessee on Monday. There were also four Knoxville residents indicted and a dozen in Bristol and Kingsport in upper East Tennessee, among other defendants in Tennessee, Georgia, and Virginia.

Anderson County Sheriff’s Department, Clinton Police Department, Oak Ridge Police Department, Oliver Springs Police Department, and Seventh Judicial District Crime Task Force in Anderson County were among the agencies that helped with the investigation, the press release said.

Here are the people that were indicted in the alleged methamphetamine distribution conspiracy: [Read more…]

Woman arrested for probation violation after fatal creek crash

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Rebecca L. Vanasse

Rebecca L. Vanasse

 

An Oak Ridge woman was arrested on a probation violation charge after a fatal crash in Poplar Creek in Roane County on Tuesday, authorities said.

Rebecca L. Vanasse, 26, of North Purdue Avenue, was arrested by the Oak Ridge Police Department on the violation of probation charge on Tuesday, according to Anderson County court and jail records. A hold has also been placed on Vanasse for Rhea County, and she remained jailed at the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton on Thursday morning, according to those records.

Anderson County Sheriff’s Department Chief Deputy Mark Lucas confirmed that Vanasse is the same woman who has been identified as the driver in the fatal creek crash on Poplar Creek Road on Tuesday. She was arrested by ORPD after she was treated and released from the emergency room, Lucas said.

“We had a probation violation warrant and Rhea County had a warrant as well,” he said. [Read more…]

Attempted murder charge sent to grand jury in Claxton shooting

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Jacob Lynn Rutherford

Jacob Lynn Rutherford

 

CLINTON—An attempted first-degree murder charge has been sent to the grand jury in a case involving an Oak Ridge man accused of shooting and injuring two men and shooting near a woman but not hitting her.

Two charges of reckless endangerment were also bound over, or sent to the grand jury. Those charges had initially been filed as attempted first-degree murder.

A preliminary hearing for Jacob Lynn Rutherford, 23, was held Wednesday, March 7, in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Clinton.

Rutherford had originally been charged with a total of three counts of attempted first-degree murder and one count of reckless endangerment. One count of reckless endangerment was dismissed during the preliminary hearing last week, meaning Rutherford faces the one attempted first-degree murder charge and the two counts of reckless endangerment that were originally attempted murder. [Read more…]

Two charged in alleged robbery that started with car sale

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Michael Sharp

Michael Rodney Sharp

 

Two people have been charged in an alleged robbery that started with a car sale, court records said.

The robbery was reported to have occurred on Bolin Road on the west side of Rocky Top on Thursday, February 22.

The two people charged with aggravated robbery in the case are Michael Rodney Sharp, 50, and Stephanie Jean Hoskins, 29, who both live on Bolin Road, according to Anderson County jail records.

The victim reported going to Bolin Road to buy a car from Sharp, according to affidavits filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Clinton by Anderson County Sheriff’s Department Deputy Gregory Stanley.

While she was talking to Sharp, the victim said, Hoskins hit her in the back of the head with a stick, knocking her unconscious, according to the affidavits. The victim said she was unconscious for about five minutes. [Read more…]

Clinton High School student charged after threatening notes

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Anderson County Sheriff's Department Badge

A Clinton High School student is in custody after an investigation into threatening notes found in a classroom on Monday afternoon, authorities said.

An investigation by school resource officers and investigators with the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department and Clinton High School officials led to the identification of the 15-year-old female student responsible for leaving the notes, which made false threats of a school shooting, according to the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department.

Charges will be filed in Anderson County Juvenile Court for felony false reports and disorderly conduct, according to the information, provided by Chief Deputy Mark Lucas. The girl is currently being held in the Richard L. Bean Juvenile Detention Center in Knoxville pending a detention hearing. [Read more…]

Warrant: Gun fired as shooting victim tried to grab it during argument

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Christopher Lee Roberts

Christopher Lee Roberts

 

The defendant in a fatal shooting near Clinton on Thursday pulled out a gun during an argument, and it fired when the victim tried to grab it, according to court records.

After the shooting, the defendant, Christopher Lee Roberts, 45, who has been charged with criminal homicide, repeatedly said “I just f****d up” or “I messed up,” according to home owner Martin “Chris” Alsop and resident Michael Carroll.

The shooting, which killed Bradley Charles Bivens, 48, was reported at 611 Sinking Springs Road in Anderson County at about 9 p.m. Thursday. [Read more…]

Sheriff’s Department asks for help finding shooting suspect

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Christopher Lee Roberts

Christopher Lee Roberts

 

The Anderson County Sheriff’s Department is asking for the public’s help finding a suspect who is wanted for criminal homicide after a fatal shooting on Sinking Springs Road near Clinton on Thursday evening.

Deputies responded to the shooting at 611 Sinking Springs Road at about 8:30 p.m. Thursday. When they arrived, they found Bradley Charles Bivens, 48, of Clinton, had been shot and killed, said Mark Lucas, Anderson County Sheriff’s Department chief deputy.

Sheriff’s investigators have obtained an arrest warrant for criminal homicide on Christopher Lee Roberts, 45, of Clinton, Lucas said. [Read more…]

Two more students charged after threats, including shooting-related threat

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Oak Ridge High School Trash Can Fire

Oak Ridge High School

 

Two more Oak Ridge students have been charged after police investigated threats, including a shooting-related threat, at Oak Ridge High School and Robertsville Middle School on Friday.

In the threat reported at Oak Ridge High School, a 15-year-old male student allegedly made verbal threats to another student, saying that if he was going to “shoot up the school,” he “would shoot her first,” the Oak Ridge Police Department said.

The threat was reported just before 3 p.m. Friday. The boy was removed from class and taken to the principal’s office, along with the alleged victim and a witness, the ORPD said.

“After conducting interviews and further investigation, officers learned the suspect allegedly made verbal threats to another student, stating that if he was going to ‘shoot up the school,’ he ‘would shoot her first,'” the ORPD said. [Read more…]

Clinton man killed in Thursday night shooting

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A Clinton man was killed in a Thursday night shooting in Anderson County, authorities said.

The Anderson County Sheriff’s Department responded to the shooting at 611 Sinking Springs Road near Clinton at about 8:30 p.m. Thursday.

When they arrived, they found that a 48-year-old Clinton man had been shot and killed, said Mark Lucas, Anderson County Sheriff’s Department chief deputy. [Read more…]

Clinton High School student charged with threats

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A Clinton High School student is in custody after an investigation of a social media threat, authorities said.

The 15-year-old female student sent messages to a male student on a social media site that ultimately led to threats, according to Mark Lucas, Anderson County Sheriff’s Department chief deputy.

The threat was investigated by Anderson County school officials and school resource officers and detectives from the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department, Lucas said.

The female student was identified and arrested this morning, Lucas said. She is currently being held in juvenile detention pending a hearing. [Read more…]