Oak Ridge Today

Investigation: Clinton man accused of threatening three judges

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Ronald Jennings Taylor

Ronald Jennings Taylor

 

 

Ronald Taylor Don Elledge Don Layton Nicki Cantrell Slider Cropped

CLINTON—A Clinton man accused of threatening to harm three Anderson County judges has a trial scheduled this week in Anderson County Criminal Court.

Details about the alleged threat aren’t available in an indictment filed by the Anderson County Grand Jury in October.

The 53-year-old man has had a dispute with Anderson County officials about searches of people at the security checkpoint near the elevators on the third floor of the Anderson County Courthouse in Clinton. He has told deputies that they do not have the right to search him, objected to the metal detectors there, claimed that civil rights are being violated, and asserted the right to defend himself with deadly force against an unlawful act by a police officer, according to court records.

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Anderson County man indicted on carjacking, assault charges

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Justin Wade Welch

Justin Wade Welch

 

An Anderson County man who allegedly took two cars by force and tried to take another in Clinton in March 2017 has been indicted on carjacking and assault charges by the Anderson County Grand Jury.

Justin Wade Welch, 31, was charged in an eight-count indictment filed April 3. At the time of the indictment, he had been jailed at the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton since March 30, 2017, the date of the alleged incident.

The charges against Welch include three counts of carjacking and one count each of attempted carjacking, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon (a vehicle), evading arrest, driving on a suspended or revoked license, and resisting a stop, search, or arrest involving a weapon (a vehicle).

Charges against Welch had been waived to the Grand Jury in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Clinton on September 6.

He pleaded not guilty to the eight indicted charges in Anderson County Criminal Court in Clinton on April 30. [Read more…]

Warrants: Anderson County man allegedly carjacked two vehicles in Clinton, tried to steal third

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Justin Wade Welch

Justin Wade Welch

 

An Anderson County man is facing 13 charges that include carjacking and robbery after allegedly taking two cars by force and trying to take another in Clinton on Thursday, and then fleeing from officers and resisting arrest, according to arrest warrants.

Justin Wade Welch, 30, remained jailed in the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton on Tuesday morning. His bond has been set at $500,000.

Welch has been charged with two counts of carjacking and one count of attempted carjacking. He’s also been charged with three counts of robbery and two counts of attempted robbery.

The Clinton Police Department also charged him with two counts of vehicular assault.

And the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department charged him with evading arrest, resisting arrest, and driving on a suspended license.

Arrest warrants filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Clinton said Welch allegedly carjacked one vehicle at Clinton Towers on North Charles G. Seivers Boulevard in downtown Clinton, tried to carjack a second vehicle several blocks south at Food City on South Charles G. Seivers Boulevard, and carjacked a third vehicle on Highland Drive next to Food City. [Read more…]

Anderson County Sheriff’s Department joins U.S. Marshals’ Smoky Mountains Fugitive Task Force

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Six deputies from the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department have been sworn as special deputy U.S. marshals and form an Aggressive Criminal Enforcement (ACE) Unit. The ACE Unit is made up of Sergeant Wally Braden, Corporal Rick Coley, and deputies Charles Relford, Jason Leach, Shawn Williams, and Matt Forsyth. They will work part-time as needed with the Smoky Mountains Fugitive Task Force and the U.S. Marshals Service. Also pictured above at left is Chief Deputy Mark Lucas. (Photo courtesy Anderson County Sheriff’s Department)

 

Six officers from the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department have been sworn in as task force officers with the United States Marshals Service’s Smoky Mountains Fugitive Task Force, or SMFTF.

The Anderson County Sheriff’s Department is the latest local law enforcement agency to become part of the specialized fugitive apprehension team, which is made up of the East Tennessee agencies listed at the end of this press release.

Task force officers are state and local police officers who receive special deputations with the Marshals Service, the press release said. While assigned to the SMFTF, these officers can exercise U.S. Marshals’ authorities, such as crossing jurisdictional lines.

Jimmy Fowler, U.S. marshal for the Eastern District of Tennessee, administered the oath of office to the deputies at the Marshals Service office in Knoxville.

“We are very excited about our new partnership with the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department,” Fowler said in the press release. “Our communities are safer when local, state, and federal officers get to work together, and that is what the Smoky Mountains Fugitive Task Force is all about. The Task Force is made up of great officers from throughout East Tennessee. From Chattanooga to Bristol, these officers work together to ensure the safety of everyone by apprehending dangerous fugitives and reducing violent crime.” [Read more…]

Man remains jailed on kidnapping, assault charges

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A Knoxville man remained jailed on aggravated kidnapping and domestic assault charges Friday, accused of hitting his ex-girlfriend after she refused to make Kool-Aid, taking her keys and cell phone, and pushing a couch in front of a door, authorities said.

Robert Joseph Atkins, 31, allegedly left the home on Mooncrest Lane in Claxton with the victim’s three-month-old son after he let her go next door to get him a cigarette, Anderson County court records said. The victim called the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department from the neighbor’s house.

[Read more…]