Oak Ridge Today

ORPD investigates after SUV reportedly crashes through two yards, hits tree on Wabash

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Wabash-Lane-Crash-May-25-2016

The Oak Ridge Police Department was investigating a crash on Wabash Lane on Wednesday afternoon after a sport utility vehicle drove through bushes in one yard and knocked down a sidewalk railing before knocking down a fence and crashing into a tree in another. Pictured above is ORPD Detective John Criswell. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 9 p.m.

The Oak Ridge Police Department was investigating a crash on Wabash Lane on Wednesday afternoon after a sport utility vehicle reportedly drove through bushes in one yard and knocked down a sidewalk railing before crossing the street into anther yard, where it knocked down a fence and crashed into a tree.

The crash was reported at 2:38 p.m. Wednesday at 126 Wabash Lane.

Witnesses said the Ford Escape had come off Waddell Circle, a one-way street, crashed through bushes in the front yard of a house at the corner of Waddell Circle and Waddell Place, curved through the yard, where it knocked down a sidewalk railing, and then crossed Wabash Lane into the yard of the second home, where it reportedly knocked over part of a fence and a recycling bin and hit an air-conditioning unit, according to residents. The SUV hit a tree about 100 feet from the street in the back yard of that home, and it also appeared to have clipped the side of the two-story home. [Read more…]

She alleges abuse, imprisonment, Sharia law; he cites immigration as possible motive for claims

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The wife of a city employee has alleged that she has essentially been held captive in a home that operates under Sharia law, been physically abused, not allowed to work or go to school, and deprived of food and medical care.

But her husband, an Oak Ridge Electric Department project manager, said he can prove that the charges are unfounded. He called the allegations, which were publicized in a newspaper story last month, “salacious accusations.” The allegations sparked a social media backlash against the city employee, Oak Ridge Electric Department Project Manager Ardo Isma Ba.

The Oak Ridge Police Department has investigated some of the allegations against Ba, including the charge that he held his wife, Madina Sall, against her will for the past three years. That information was reported to the Knox County Sheriff’s Office, where Ba is a reserve deputy.

Ba was not charged after the investigation. Officers said Sall’s definition of abuse is different than what is defined in Tennessee law. Also, detectives appeared to have questions about the accuracy of some of the information, and they warned Sall of the consequences of reporting false information to law enforcement.

“The matter did appear to be a non-criminal matter due to the initial information given to (the Knox County Sheriff’s Office) not being accurate and no proof that any physical abuse has occurred,” the ORPD said. [Read more…]

Third shooting on Wakefield Road in 48 hours, followed by car crash, fleeing driver

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Car Crash at Hilltop and West Outer Drive

Police say the driver of this silver Infiniti fled on foot after a three-car crash at North Illinois Avenue and West Outer Drive on Monday night, just a few hours after a shooting was reported a short distance away on Wakefield Road, the third shooting there in 48 hours. Police have since described the driver as a person of interest in the Monday night shooting and crash. Pictured above at center are ORPD officers James Elkins and Garrett Robbins. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 12:35 p.m.

A shooting was reported on Wakefield Road on Monday evening, the third shooting on the street in 48 hours. The shooting was followed a few hours later by a three-car crash at the intersection of West Outer Drive and North Illinois Avenue. Police couldn’t immediately say if the two events were connected.

There didn’t appear to be any injuries in the shooting, which occurred sometime between about 8:15 and 8:30 p.m. and left some 21 casings in the street. Residents in one Wakefield Road home said two bullets pierced a bedroom, but fortunately, no one was in it at the time.

Authorities said minor injuries were reported in the crash, which was reported at about 10:15 p.m. near the Ian’s Market gas station and convience store. One person reportedly fled from the crash, and one witness said the man darted into a wooded area behind the east corner of Ian’s Market, headed north toward Oliver Springs.

The Oak Ridge Police Department and Anderson County Sheriff’s Department swarmed the area. An ACSD canine unit responded to help search for the person of interest, but as of early Tuesday morning, officers hadn’t found the man. [Read more…]

Report: Woman who fell into fountain and died had been ‘huffing,’ witness says

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Oak Ridge Civic Center Fountain

The Oak Ridge woman who fell into this fountain at the Civic Center on June 3 and died in a hospital 13 days later had been spotted “huffing” a can of keyboard cleaner next to a tree in the park, possibly just minutes before she was found floating face down in the water, authorities said.

The 26-year-old woman who fell into a fountain at the Oak Ridge Civic Center on June 3 and died in a hospital 13 days later had been spotted “huffing” a can of keyboard cleaner next to a tree in the park, possibly just minutes before she was found floating face down in the water, authorities said.

After she was pulled from the fountain, rescuers tried CPR on Sarah Christine McAdams, but she was unresponsive and given only a 10 percent chance of surviving the first night at Methodist Medical Center, hospital staff told Oak Ridge Police Department Detective Kevin Craig.

On June 6, ORPD Detective David Stephens reported that McAdams, who had lived on Manhattan Avenue in Woodland, had been placed in an induced coma and had not been able to communicate. She died at the hospital on June 16, according to a copy of the death certificate provided by her mother, Lori Holt, of Murrell’s Inlet, S.C. [Read more…]