Oak Ridge Today

Charges pending against ORHS student who assaulted officer, police say

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Charges are pending against an Oak Ridge High School student accused of assaulting an officer and classmate on Monday, authorities said.

An Oak Ridge Police Department press release said School Resource Officer Michael Swigert saw the 17-year-old male involved in a disturbance with a high school staff member at about 2:13 p.m. Monday. The staff member said the unruly boy had just assaulted a 17-year-old female classmate, the release said.

“Officer Swigert attempted to contact the student, who refused to comply with the officer’s commands and continued to create a disturbance, yelling, slamming doors, and knocking over a floor sign,” the press release said. “When Officer Swigert ordered the student to cease his actions, the student again refused to comply and assaulted the officer.” [Read more…]

Worried about city judge’s reaction, tenant concocted home invasion story after alleged rampage, police say

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An Oak Ridge man who allegedly went on a rampage and broke bedroom windows inside his home concocted a story about a home invasion to try to avoid trouble with his landlord, City Judge Lawrence Tunnell, authorities said.

Derek Scott Fitzpatrick, 26, has been charged with false reporting, a felony. He remained jailed at the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton early Friday morning.

The alleged home invasion on North Hollywood Circle was reported one week ago at about 1 a.m. Friday, Nov. 1. The Oak Ridge Police Department quickly set up a perimeter in the Highland View neighborhood and searched for the two suspects for about 30 minutes before “finding out the story was made up,” Officer Garrett Robbins said in an affidavit filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court. [Read more…]

Man allegedly beaten, robbed in Anderson County

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Information from WYSH Radio

The Anderson County Sheriff’s Department responded to a home on Webber Lane Saturday night after a man was allegedly assaulted and robbed.

Few details of the incident have been made available, but responding deputies said that when they arrived at around 8:30 p.m. Sunday, Tommy Lowe was being loaded in to an ambulance bound for the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville for treatment of a black eye and laceration to his head.

Deputies were told that Lowe had been assaulted and robbed of $50 in cash and a cell phone. The Criminal Investigations Division is following up.

Woman alleges excessive force, brutality at jail; files $17.6 million lawsuit

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A multi-million dollar federal lawsuit filed last month and amended Tuesday alleges an Anderson County woman with multiple sclerosis was sprayed with chemical spray in the face and eyes at least twice while restrained and had her forehead slammed into a cement wall after she was arrested for public intoxication at her home earlier this year.

The lawsuit seeks $17.6 million for Heather Bolling, 30. She accused Anderson County jailers of using excessive force and brutality, and she alleged she was severely and permanently injured after she was arrested on Oak Road near Norris on April 28 and taken to the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton. [Read more…]

Neighbors respond to alleged knife attack with gun, videotape, but no suspect found

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Kayla Pesterfield

Kayla Pesterfield

An Oak Ridge woman who alleged she was attacked and cut with a knife by an unknown man in her home on Tuesday afternoon was charged with false reporting after police checked the Beverly Circle property and reviewed a neighbor’s videotape, which showed no man had entered or left the residence, authorities said.

Kayla Pesterfield, 21, reported the alleged assault at about 4:30 p.m. Tuesday. She said the stranger was in her bedroom and attacked her by pushing her up against a wall. The man then cut her right thigh and the front of her shorts with a knife, Pesterfield told police, according to an arrest warrant.  [Read more…]

Police chief declines to comment on use of his memo in Baughn’s letter

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James T. Akagi

James T. Akagi

A memo he wrote in May was used by an Oak Ridge City Council member who wrote a controversial letter that has sparked a heated, week-long debate about drugs and violence in the city’s schools.

But Oak Ridge Police Chief Jim Akagi declined to elaborate on the memo on Monday—or discuss how it was used in the letter published last week by Oak Ridge City Council member Trina Baughn. Her letter, which also relied on conversations with current and former school staff members and parents of students, alleged drugs are rampant in many schools, children are at risk of being assaulted, and a “culture of terror” has saturated the system.

Asked for his views on the letter, which was sent to new superintendent Bruce Borchers, Akagi said he couldn’t comment. [Read more…]

Man indicted in mausoleum assault

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Charles Ronald Bean

Charles Ronald Bean

Information from WYSH Radio

An Anderson County grand jury has indicted a Powell man on charges that he lured a man to a mausoleum in Claxton, locked him inside, and forced him to perform oral sex.

Charles Bean, 55, was indicted on charges of aggravated rape, aggravated kidnapping, vandalism, and vandalism of a cemetery. Bean has been in custody since his arrest in July of last year. [Read more…]

Report: Oak Ridge police officer assaulted by high school student

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An Oak Ridge High School student allegedly threatened a teacher and punched a police officer trying to escort him out of the cafeteria on Thursday, authorities said.

The student, Christopher Lee Arwood, 18, had allegedly “become disorderly in the school cafeteria and threatened a teacher with violence” at about 11:05 a.m. Thursday, court records said.

Oak Ridge Police Officer Sherrill Selby, who is the school resource officer, tried to intervene and escort Arwood from the cafeteria, which was full of students, an affidavit said.

[Read more…]

Restaurant worker reports assault while taking out trash

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An employee at Lincoln’s Sports Grille on South Illinois Avenue reported that he was hit in the head by an unknown suspect as he took out the trash early Friday morning, authorities said.

The employee said he was taking the trash to a dumpster behind Lincoln’s at about 12:23 a.m. Friday when he was struck from behind without warning, an Oak Ridge Police Department report said. The restaurant worker said the suspect laughed after hitting him, but made no other statement before fleeing east across ORAU Way.

[Read more…]

Woman arrested for punching Clinton cop

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A Lake City woman was arrested late Saturday night after she allegedly punched a Clinton police officer in the face, according to WYSH Radio in Clinton.

Clinton Police Department Officer Shawn Fritz was on patrol Saturday night at around 10:15 p.m. when he spotted a woman later identified as 28-year-old Ashley Bullock walking down North Charles Seivers Boulevard wearing only a T-shirt and blue jeans even though temperatures were only around 50 degrees, WYSH said.

Fritz conducted an unrelated traffic stop a short distance away and when he was finished there, doubled back to check on the woman to make sure she was OK. He located her standing in front of the Git N Go on North Seivers and attempted to make contact with her, the radio station said.

However, as he approached, she started walking away.

According to the arrest report, Fritz followed her, and Bullock stopped in the middle of the parking lot and turned to him, saying that she had just gotten out of jail and would not go back. At that point, she allegedly swung at Fritz, hitting him on the left side of his face near the eye with her fist, WYSH said.

Fritz took her to the ground and placed her under arrest on a charge of assault, the radio station said. She was taken back to the Anderson County Jail, from where she had been released less than half an hour before Fritz first saw her walking along the side of the road.

The incident was witnessed by two people and statements were obtained, WYSH said. Bullock has a lengthy arrest record dating back to 2004.

This story brought to you through an agreement between Oak Ridge Today and WYSH. See more local news headlines on the WYSH website at http://www.wyshradio.com/local_news.html.

Report: Oliver Springs man brandishes butcher knife, faces kidnapping charge

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An Oliver Springs man was charged with aggravated kidnapping and domestic assault after he allegedly brandished a butcher knife while arguing with his wife—from whom he was separated—laid on top of her, held the knife to his throat, and told her she could not leave, authorities said.

Mark T. Phillips, 36, of Half Moon Road went to the victim’s home on Edmonds Drive at about 7 p.m. Thursday. He let her take children in the home to school at about 7 a.m. Friday, and she sought refuge at the Oliver Springs Police Department, according to affidavits filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court by Oliver Springs Sgt. Rick Hamby.

There were four children asleep in the house at the time of the Thursday night argument, court records said. They range in age from 6 to 13.

Oliver Springs officers tried to locate Phillips, but he had fled. They later found him at an abandoned house near Foxwood Circle. He was aggressive toward police, the affidavits said.

In addition to aggravated kidnapping and domestic assault, he has also been charged with aggravated criminal trespassing. He remained jailed Monday afternoon.

Caryville man accused of hitting Walmart officer after theft

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A Caryville man is accused of punching a Walmart loss prevention officer in the throat and chest after he ran out the door of a Clinton store with a shopping cart loaded with merchandise, authorities said.

Allen Jason Hall, 30, of Caryville, allegedly loaded an empty shopping cart with $318 worth of battery merchandise at the Clinton Walmart on Wednesday, including a battery, two battery cores, and a battery charger, the store employee told Clinton Police Department Officer Lucian Godwin, according to affidavits filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court.

Hall allegedly attempted to claim the items and return them, but he had no receipt, the affidavits said. He ran out the door with the cart, the loss prevention officer told Godwin.

The Walmart officer said she ran after Hall and grabbed the cart in the parking lot, but Hall struck her in the throat and chest with his fist, knocking her down to the pavement, the affidavits said. The officer was injured and taken by ambulance to a hospital.

Hall has been charged with robbery, theft, and assault. He remained jailed in the Anderson County Detention Facility on Monday. His bond has been set at $100,000.