Oak Ridge Today

Oliver Springs man dies in Pellissippi Parkway crash

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A 73-year-old Oliver Springs man died in a Sunday morning crash on Pellissippi Parkway, authorities said.

The collision that killed Eddy Palmer involved three vehicles and two separate crashes between Topside Road and Alcoa Highway in the eastbound lanes of Pellissippi Parkway, the Alcoa Police Department said.

The first two-vehicle crash occurred at about 8:12 a.m. Sunday when James Green, 28, of Knoxville, was momentarily blinded by the sun, causing the eastbound 1992 Honda Accord he was driving to rear-end a 2006 Ford Ranger pickup truck driven by Palmer, who lived on Joel Road in Oliver Springs, the police department said. There were no injuries in the initial crash. [Read more…]

Driver cut from vehicle, taken to UT after crashing into power pole

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Old Edgemoor Road Power Pole

The Oak Ridge Electric Department installs a new utility pole after a driver crashed into the old one and broke it on Old Edgemoor Road on Thursday morning.

A driver had to be cut from his upside-down SUV and taken to the hospital on Thursday morning after he crashed into a guide wire on a utility pole on Old Edgemoor Road, traveled up the wire, and then hit the pole and broke it, authorities said.

The Mercury Mountaineer likely went about 10 feet in the air and then fell on its top, crushing the roof, said Marty Griffith, Oak Ridge Fire Department battalion chief. Electrical lines landed on top of the vehicle, and the Oak Ridge Electric Department was called to turn off the power.

Griffith said the driver was taken to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville with a head laceration. He did not have any other obvious injuries. Griffith said the man might have had a medical emergency before the crash. [Read more…]

Report: Child hit by car escapes with scrapes, bruises

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A child who was hit by a car on Johnson Road on Wednesday appeared to escape serious injury, according to a police report.

The accident happened at about 4 p.m. Wednesday at Jay Lane, an Oak Ridge Police Department crash report said.

The report said the 10-year-old darted out from behind a parked car and was hit by an eastbound Chevrolet Impala driven by a 63-year-old Oak Ridge woman, who was not injured.

The child was knocked to the ground and had scrapes and bruises, but the parents declined transport or treatment, according to the report by ORPD Officer Benjamin Haines. The report said the injuries were “non-incapacitating,” or non-disabling.

Oliver Springs man dies in two-car crash on Schaad Road

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An Oliver Springs man died in a two-car crash on Schaad Road on Wednesday afternoon, authorities said.

James Shultz, 50, was driving west on Schaad Road in a 2005 Chevrolet Impala when he apparently crossed the center line and hit an eastbound 2004 Ford Escape driven by Kevyn Sterchi, 18, of Knoxville, the Knoxville Police Department said, citing the findings of a preliminary investigation.

Shultz was not wearing a seatbelt, the KPD said in a Thursday morning statement. He was taken to the University of Tennessee Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. [Read more…]

Knoxville man facing charges in fatal Clinton crash on Friday

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Kyle Houston Anthony

Kyle Houston Anthony

A Knoxville man is facing vehicular homicide and DUI charges after a fatal Friday evening crash in Clinton killed a 40-year-old woman, authorities said.

The woman, whose name has not been released, was a passenger in a truck driven by Kyle H. Anthony, 21, on Lewallen Bridge at about 4:30 p.m. Friday, the Clinton Police Department said. She was thrown from the vehicle during the multiple-vehicle wreck and died from her injuries, the CPD said.

Initial reports indicate that Anthony apparently lost control of his southbound truck on Clinch Avenue near South Charles G. Seviers Boulevard, crossed the center line, and struck two other northbound vehicles, CPD Chief Rick Scarbrough said. [Read more…]

No injuries reported, but SR 95 shut down when coal truck trailer overturns

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Highway 95 Coal Truck Trailer

A trailer hauling coal came loose from a southbound truck and overturned in a ditch next to Highway 95 between Bethel Valley Road and Melton Hill Dam on Sunday night.

No injuries were reported, but part of Highway 95 was temporarily shut down Sunday night after a coal trailer separated from a southbound truck and overturned in a ditch between Bethel Valley Road and Melton Hill Dam.

The accident was reported at about 6:15 p.m. Sunday. The highway remained shut down more than two hours later. [Read more…]

Roane County: Man suffers fatal heart attack behind wheel

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Information from WYSH Radio

A retired police detective died last week on a Roane County roadway when he suffered a heart attack behind the wheel.

The Tennessee Highway Patrol said Richard Phillip Hadorn, 67, had been driving his pickup truck on Winton Chapel Road Thursday afternoon when his truck left the roadway and crashed. State troopers said an autopsy determined that he had suffered a heart attack and was likely dead before the truck came to its final rest.

Hadorn, according to our partners at BBB-TV, had only recently moved here from Florida after retiring from the New York Police Department.

Roane wreck kills one

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Information from WYSH Radio

A Kingston man died in a single-vehicle crash early Friday morning in Harriman.

The Tennessee Highway Patrol reports that Patrick E. Fly of Kingston, 22, had been headed south on Swan Pond Road at around 1:30 a.m. in a Nissan Altima when he failed to negotiate a curve. His car skidded and left the roadway, flipping several times and ejecting Fly, who was not wearing a seatbelt. [Read more…]

Two taken to UT hospital after five-vehicle crash between Clinton, Oak Ridge

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Two people were taken to the University of Tennessee Medical Center after a five-vehicle crash on State Highway 61 between Oak Ridge and Clinton on Tuesday afternoon, authorities said.

The collision occurred at about 3:30 p.m. on SR 61 near Old Tacora Road, in front of Gibbs Ferry Park. According to preliminary information, it appears an elderly female was traveling eastbound on Highway 61 when she drifted across the center line and into oncoming traffic, said Dalya Qualls, public information officer for the Tennessee Department of Safety. The woman attempted to swerve back into her lane when she struck a Chevrolet pickup truck, Qualls said. [Read more…]

Follow-up: New details of fatal Clinton wreck

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Information from WYSH Radio

More information is now available about Friday’s fatal accident on Highway 61 at the on-ramp to I-75 North in Clinton.

The wreck occurred at about 7:06 a.m. Friday, and it killed Christopher Strunk, 32, of Oneida. The Clinton Police Department reported that Strunk was a passenger in a Honda Civic driven by Shawn Wright, 26, of Pioneer.

The accident happened when a car driven by David Kittrell of Mississippi was in the left lane near the on-ramp and Wright’s car pulled into his path while trying to get on to the interstate. Kittrell’s car “T-boned” Wright’s car and both vehicles spun around before coming to rest against a guard rail. Strunk, who was not wearing a seatbelt, was declared dead at the scene by Emergency Medical Services personnel, and Wright suffered injuries that sent him to the University of Tennessee Medical Center by ambulance. [Read more…]

CPD: One dead in Friday morning crash

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Information from WYSH Radio

One person died in a two-car crash on Friday morning in Clinton.

The collision happened at about 7 a.m. near the intersection of Highway 61 and the on-ramp to Interstate 75 North. Christopher Strunk, 32, of Oneida died as a result of his injuries.

Initial information indicated that the vehicle, in which Strunk was a passenger, was “T-boned” by another car on North Charles G. Seivers Boulevard at the northbound entrance to I-75. [Read more…]

Vehicle strikes two cars, house before fleeing, police say

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An unknown driver in an unknown vehicle hit two parked cars on Outer Drive early Saturday morning, sideswiped a tree, and struck a house before fleeing, authorities said.

The crash at about 1:40 a.m. Saturday just east of Florida Avenue damaged the foundation of a home at 97 Outer Drive, Oak Ridge Police Department Officer Daniel Freytag said in a report. [Read more…]