Oak Ridge Today

Driver identified in fatal crash at Bull Run Creek

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The driver has been identified in a fatal single-vehicle crash into Bull Run Creek in Claxton on Thursday night, April 18, 2019. The Toyota Highlander sport utility vehicle, which had been submerged, was pulled from the water at about midnight. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

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

The driver has been identified in a fatal single-vehicle crash into Bull Run Creek in Claxton on Thursday night.

The driver, Douglas A. Batson, 66, of Knoxville, was traveling west in a 2007 Toyota Highlander sport utility vehicle on New Henderson Road at about 9:20 p.m. Thursday when he turned on his signal to make a right turn, according to rescuers and a fatality report from the Tennessee Highway Patrol. Batson drove off the right side of the road, the report said.

“The vehicle then struck some wooden pylons and then went into the river and then sank to the bottom,” the report said.

[Read more…]

One dead in crash into Bull Run Creek

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Note: This story was last updated at 12:45 a.m.

CLAXTON–One person is confirmed dead after a vehicle crashed into Bull Run Creek in Claxton on Thursday night.

The crash was reported to the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department on a straight stretch of New Henderson Road near Bull Run Park at about 9:19 p.m. Thursday.

The body of the man who died in the crash was removed from the water, but the vehicle remained submerged for several more hours until a dive team located it and a tow truck pulled it out at about midnight. The man is believed to have been alone in the vehicle, which appeared to be a silver sport utility vehicle.

[Read more…]

Updated: Fisherman finds body of missing man at Bull Run Park

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The Anderson County Rescue Squad and Anderson County Sheriff's Department helped retrieve a body found under water in Bull Run Creek at Bull Run Park in Claxton on Wednesday afternoon, Feb. 21, 2018. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The Anderson County Rescue Squad and Anderson County Sheriff’s Department helped retrieve a body found under water in Bull Run Creek at Bull Run Park in Claxton on Wednesday afternoon, Feb. 21, 2018. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was updated at 10:45 a.m. Feb. 22.

CLAXTON—A fisherman found a body under about four feet of water at Bull Run Park in Claxton on Wednesday afternoon, and it has been identified as the man reported missing from Karns in Knox County on Sunday morning, authorities said.

The body of Freddy Shultz, 66, was located on the slope of the bank of Bull Run Creek at Bull Run Park at about 3:48 p.m. Wednesday, according to information from Anderson County Sheriff Paul White and the Knox County Sheriff’s Office. The body was located near the New Henderson Road bridge after four days of searching.

Divers from the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department and a boat with personnel from the Anderson County Rescue Squad assisted in the recovery, said Mark Lucas, Anderson County Sheriff’s Department chief deputy.

White said identification in the man’s wallet identified him as the missing man. His black pickup truck had been found parked alongside New Henderson Road across the creek from Bull Run Park at about 12:45 p.m. Sunday. [Read more…]

Anderson County Rescue Squad to resume search for missing man

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Rescuers in an Anderson County Rescue Squad boat search for a missing man in the water at Bull Run Park in Claxton, authorities said Sunday afternoon, Feb. 18, 2018. At center is Rescue Squad Chief Terry Allen. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Rescuers in an Anderson County Rescue Squad boat search for a missing man in the water at Bull Run Park in Claxton, authorities said Sunday afternoon, Feb. 18, 2018. At center is Rescue Squad Chief Terry Allen. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The Anderson County Rescue Squad was going to resume searching Monday afternoon for a missing man whose pickup truck was found parked on the side of the road near the water at Bull Run Park in Claxton on Sunday, authorities said.

The man, reported to be 66, was reported missing in Knox County on Sunday morning.

Anderson County Sheriff Paul White said the man’s black pickup truck was located on the side of road across Bull Run Creek from Bull Run Park. The keys were in the truck, and a suicide note was in the truck, White said. The vehicle was parked alongside New Henderson Road at Tracy Allison Lane. Deputies found it near Bull Run Park at about 12:45 p.m. Sunday.

But rescuers aren’t certain that the man is in the water, said White, who was among those on rescue boats searching the cold water on Sunday.

“We don’t know where he’s at or if he’s here,” White said. [Read more…]

Rescuers search for missing man in water at Bull Run Park

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Rescuers in an Anderson County Sheriff's Department boat search for a missing man in the water at Bull Run Park in Claxton, authorities said Sunday afternoon, Feb. 18, 2018. Anderson County Sheriff Paul White is at left in the boat. In front is Knoxville Police Department search and rescue volunteer Candy Stooksbury with K-9 Barnabas, a bloodhound. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Rescuers in an Anderson County Sheriff’s Department boat search for a missing man in the water at Bull Run Park in Claxton, authorities said Sunday afternoon, Feb. 18, 2018. Anderson County Sheriff Paul White is at left in the boat. In front is Knoxville Police Department search and rescue volunteer Candy Stooksbury with K-9 Barnabas, a bloodhound. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 11:15 p.m.

CLAXTON—Rescuers searched for a missing man in the water at Bull Run Park in Claxton on Sunday afternoon and evening, but they were not able to locate him.

The search was called off as daylight faded just before 7 p.m. Sunday, more than six hours after the missing man’s pickup truck was located near the park. It’s not clear when the search might resume.

The missing man is reported to be from Knox County, said Mark Lucas, Anderson County Sheriff’s Department chief deputy. The identity of the man, reported to be 66, was not immediately available Sunday.

Anderson County Sheriff Paul White said the man left his black pickup truck on the side of road across Bull Run Creek from Bull Run Park, The keys were in the truck, and a suicide note was in the truck, White said. The vehicle was parked alongside New Henderson Road at Tracy Allison Lane.

But rescuers aren’t certain that the man is in the water, White said. [Read more…]

Warrants: Driver who crashed stolen car into river had slurred speech, trouble staying awake

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Darrell Wayne Bouck

Darrell Wayne Bouck

 

CLAXTON—The Knoxville man who crashed a car reported as stolen into Bull Run Creek on Wednesday, prompting a nighttime search of the water with the help of divers, had slurred speech and trouble staying awake, authorities said.

Darrell Wayne Bouck Jr., 38, of Byington Solway Road, has been charged with driving under the influence; theft of more than $1,000; stolen plate; no driver’s license; and a due care violation, according to traffic citations, arrest warrants, and a preliminary crash report by the Tennessee Highway Patrol.

The license plate and the vehicle, identified as a 2003 Honda Civic in the traffic citations, had been reported stolen in Knox County, according to the warrants, which were filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Clinton.

The single-vehicle crash was reported at about 7:53 p.m. Wednesday on New Henderson Road in Claxton, near Bull Run Park. [Read more…]

Presentation will focus on TVA’s plan to close Bull Run ash ponds

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Amanda Garcia

Amanda Garcia

A Tuesday presentation will focus on the Tennessee Valley Authority’s plan to close ash ponds at the Bull Run Fossil Plant in Claxton, a press release said.

Amanda Garcia of the Southern Environmental Law Center will discuss closing ash ponds at Bull Run, the pollution and risk involved in closing the ash ponds, and the role of the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation in reviewing TVA’s plans and addressing pollution at Bull Run and other sites, the press release said. There will be opportunities for the public to weigh in, the release said.

The presentation is sponsored by Advocates for the Oak Ridge Reservation and Tennessee Citizens for Wilderness Planning. It is free and open to the public. It starts at 7 p.m. Tuesday, November 29, in the Oak Ridge Civic Center Craft Room. [Read more…]

Clinton man has minor injuries after SUV rolls upside down into creek

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Clinton-Highway-Crash-SUV-Creek-Feb-16-2016

A crew from Clinton Highway Wrecker Service works to pull a Mercury Mountaineer out of a creek alongside Clinton Highway after a two-vehicle crash on Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

CLAXTON—A Clinton man had minor injuries after his sport utility vehicle went down an embankment and rolled into a creek after a two-vehicle crash on Clinton Highway on Tuesday morning, authorities said.

The crash was reported at 8:09 a.m. Tuesday near the bridge over Bull Run Creek in Claxton.

Authorities said Jessica D. Parton, 28, of Powell, was driving east in a 2006 Dodge Ram pickup on Clinton Highway in the right lane when she hydroplaned and lost control while crossing the bridge. Parton began to spin out, the Tennessee Highway Patrol said in a preliminary report.

Donald H. Henderson, 69, of Clinton, was driving a 1997 Mercury Mountaineer behind Parton, and he tried to get into the left lane to avoid her, the THP said. [Read more…]