Oak Ridge Today

Teen struck by vehicle, treated for minor head injuries

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A 14-year-old was hit by a vehicle at the intersection of Lafayette Drive and Laboratory Road on Tuesday morning, authorities said.

The crash occurred at about 7:47 a.m. Tuesday, the Oak Ridge Police Department said.

The boy was crossing Lafayette Drive on foot when he was struck by a northbound vehicle, the ORPD said in a statement. The teen was transported to Methodist Medical Center for treatment of minor head injuries.

The driver of the vehicle was cited for failure to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk.

More information will be added as it becomes available.

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…]

Traffic backed up for miles on I-75 after shutdown for fiery crash

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Lifestar on I-75 Vasper Bridge

This picture by Charlotte Underwood is looking straight at the Vasper Bridge on I-75, near the 132 mile marker. The crash site is a bit north of the bridge on the southbound side of I-75, which is a couple of miles south of Caryville’s exit 134. (Photo and information courtesy Charlotte Underwood/1450 WLAF Radio and WLAF-TV 12)

 

A fiery fatal crash that shut down Interstate 75 in Campbell County on Wednesday afternoon has led to miles of backups heading north out of Knoxville and south from Kentucky.

The Tennessee Department of Transportation reports that traffic coming out of Knoxville on northbound Interstate 75 is backed up more than 7.5 miles from exit 129 at Lake City in Anderson County. Information on detours is available by calling 5-1-1.

Meanwhile, southbound traffic on I-75 coming out of Kentucky is backed up more than five miles from exit 134 at Caryville in Campbell County, TDOT said.

TDOT estimated the highway could be clear by 9 p.m. See TDOT’s Twitter feed here. You can also visit TDOT’s Smartmap for more information. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge hit-and-run suspect crashes motorcycle in Knox County

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An Oak Ridge hit-and-run suspect is in the hospital after crashing his motorcycle on East Emory Road in Knox County this morning, authorities said.

The Knox County Sheriff’s Office was alerted by the Oak Ridge Police Department to be on the lookout for hit-and-run suspect James F. Mitchell, 43, of Oak Ridge, on Friday morning, according to the initial investigation.

A KCSO officer saw Mitchell traveling eastbound on West Emory Road at 7:42 a.m. The officer got behind Mitchell and activated his emergency equipment, the Knox County Sheriff’s Office said. Mitchell tried to negotiate a curve too fast and ran off the right side of the road into a ditch at 9638 East Emory Road at 7:43 a.m. He was thrown from the motorcycle, authorities 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…]

Pioneer man faces vehicular homicide charge in fatal crash on Hwy 61

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Shawn Earl Wright

Shawn Earl Wright

A Pioneer man has been arrested on a half-dozen charges, including vehicular homicide, for the October death of an Oneida man in a crash on Highway 61 at the on-ramp to I-75 North in Clinton.

Christopher Strunk, 32, of Oneida, died in the fatal crash on Friday morning, October 4. The Clinton Police Department reported that Strunk was a passenger in a Honda Civic driven by Shawn Wright, now 27, of Pioneer, WYSH Radio in Clinton reported at the time.

Wright now faces six charges: vehicular homicide, criminally negligent homicide, reckless aggravated assault, reckless endangerment, reckless driving, and failure to stop at a red light. He was indicted by an Anderson County grand jury on August 5 and arrested Tuesday. He remained jailed in the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton early Wednesday afternoon. [Read more…]

Three die in Friday night rollover crash on Wolf Valley Road

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Three people died in a single-vehicle crash on East Wolf Valley Road in Anderson County on Friday night when the car went off the road, went airborne, rolled over, and ejected the three occupants, authorities said.

The 2004 Nissan S18 was traveling west on East Wolf Valley Road near White Oak Lane at about 11:30 p.m. Friday when it started to skid as driver Melissa A. Kelley, 44, of Knoxville, tried to go around a slight left curve, the Tennessee Highway Patrol said. Kelley was driving too fast for roadway conditions, and the four-door car left the right side of the road before going airborne and rolling over, according to a preliminary report by the THP.

Kelley died. So did her two passengers, William A. Housley, 44, of Clinton, and Kurt J. Miner, 25, of Heiskell. [Read more…]

Police officer, two others taken to hospital after Sunday afternoon crash

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South Illinois Avenue Police Car Crash

An Oak Ridge police officer driving a police car and two occupants of a second car were taken to the hospital after a Sunday afternoon crash at South Illinois and Rutgers avenues.

 

An Oak Ridge police officer driving a police car and two occupants of a second car were taken to the hospital after a Sunday afternoon crash at South Illinois and Rutgers avenues.

The two-car crash occurred at about 2:12 p.m. Sunday, the Oak Ridge Police Department said in a statement.

The officer, the only occupant of the police vehicle, was taken by ambulance to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries, ORPD Capt. Charles R. Smith said in the statement. [Read more…]

Since Saturday, three crashes in Oliver Springs area required Lifestar response

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Oliver Springs Crash Tri County Boulevard

An Oneida woman driving the car above was flown to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville after a collision with a truck on Tri County Boulevard in Oliver Springs on Monday afternoon. (Photo by Oliver Springs Police Department/Kenneth Morgan)

For the third time since about noon Saturday, a Lifestar medical helicopter on Monday afternoon picked up a patient injured in a car crash in Oliver Springs.

The 1 p.m. Monday crash involved an Old Dominion truck driven by Steven Mayfield and a car driven by Lyndsay Phillips of Oneida. The truck was turning from eastbound Tri County Boulevard onto Knoxville Highway, or State Highway 62, headed toward Morgan County, Oliver Springs Police Chief Kenneth Morgan said. He said the car was traveling west toward Harriman on the Boulevard.

Phillips was flown to the University of Tennessee Medical Center by Lifestar, Morgan said. [Read more…]

Harriman man dies in head-on crash in Oliver Springs on Saturday

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Oliver Springs Fatal Crash

A Harriman man died in a head-on two-car crash on State Highway 61 in Oliver Springs on Saturday night. (Photo by Tom Scott)

A Harriman man died in a head-on two-car crash on State Highway 61 on Saturday night, authorities said.

John E. Manis Jr., 57, was driving a 2000 Subaru Outback station wagon westbound on Highway 61 near Cemetery Road in Roane County, just outside Oliver Springs, when an eastbound Chevrolet S-10 pickup truck driven by a teenager crossed the center line and hit his vehicle head-on, the Tennessee Highway Patrol said in a preliminary crash report. The collision resulted in fatal injuries to Manis.

The crash occurred at about 9:57 p.m. Saturday. The 17-year-old driver of the pickup truck was injured, but she was not identified because she is a juvenile. Charges are pending, according to the THP report. The accident was investigated by Trooper Matthew Armes.

The THP said the teenager was not wearing a seat belt, and that would have made a difference. Manis was wearing a seat belt, the report said.

More information will be added as it becomes available.

Assistant public defender dies in single-car crash in Ohio

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Glenn Arden Shinaberry

Glenn Arden Shinaberry

Anderson County Assistant Public Defender Glenn A. Shinaberry, 29, died in a single-vehicle crash in Dayton, Ohio, early Sunday morning.

Shinaberry, a Knoxville resident, had been an assistant public defender in Anderson County since 2012.

WHIO-TV in Dayton said Shinaberry was a passenger in a Ford Mustang that hit a pole on a curve in front of the University of Dayton Arena at about 2:30 a.m. Sunday. The driver, who was not immediately identified, was taken to a Dayton-area hospital in critical condition, the television station said. [Read more…]

Ex-AC school bus driver indicted in May 2013 crash

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Information from WYSH Radio

A former Anderson County school bus driver has been indicted on charges related to a bus crash last year that injured four students.

Tammy Moore, 46, of Clinton was indicted by the grand jury on a charge of reckless endangerment and reckless driving in connection to a crash that occurred on May 21, 2013. Her bus, with 44 students aboard, was on Johnson Gap Road when the bus left the right side of the road and dropped off an embankment and turned over on to its side after traveling some 60 yards. [Read more…]