Oak Ridge Today

(For members) Man sentenced to 35 years in assaults against women

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Jason Bradley Braden

Jason Bradley Braden

 

Jason Bradley Braden

 

CLINTON—A Clinton man was sentenced to 35 years in prison when he pleaded guilty on Wednesday to attempted second-degree murder, aggravated kidnapping, and aggravated assault in a series of assaults that involved four female victims in three cases.

One of the victims, a grandmother in her 70s, was hit in the face with a crowbar and had a fractured skull and teeth knocked out, according to facts cited in Anderson County Criminal Court during the plea agreement hearing in Clinton on Wednesday.

The defendant, Jason Bradley Braden, 30, was ordered to serve 100 percent of his 35-year sentence.

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Carjacking suspect arrested after hospital release

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Bradley Allen Thomas

Bradley Allen Thomas

 

Note: This story was updated at 10:30 p.m.

The suspect in the carjacking of a van occupied by a woman in a wheelchair on Saturday, followed by a police chase and crash, was arrested after he was released from a hospital on Thursday, authorities said.

Bradley Allan Thomas, 30, of Knoxville, was arrested by Anderson County Sheriff’s Department deputies when he was released from the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville, Chief Deputy Mark Lucas said. Thomas, who was seriously injured, had been taken to UT Medical Center after the Saturday afternoon crash at Clinton Highway and Powell Drive in Knox County.

Thomas is the suspect charged in the carjacking in the parking lot of the Red Lobster restaurant on South Illinois Avenue in Oak Ridge on Saturday afternoon, Lucas said.

“Oak Ridge Police officers served their warrants related to the carjacking, and Thomas was also served with warrants on the pursuit by deputies,” Lucas said after Thursday’s arrest. [Read more…]

Man indicted on robbery, kidnapping, assault charges in Hibachi Burger robbery

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Dominique Leshawn Gordon

Dominique Leshawn Gordon

 

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Two hit in arms during Claxton shooting

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Jacob Lynn Rutherford

Jacob Lynn Rutherford

 

CLAXTON—Two men were hit in the arms during the shooting in Claxton on Saturday evening, January 13, and the Oak Ridge man charged with attempted murder in the case also shot at a woman but missed, according to court records.

The shooting at the home at the intersection of Clinton Highway and Lonesome Dove Road allegedly occurred “during some type of altercation” in a bedroom, according to affidavits filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Clinton.

Jacob Lynn Rutherford, 23, of Oak Ridge, has been charged with three counts of attempted first-degree murder and one count of reckless endangerment in the shooting.

The affidavits, which summarize the alleged facts of the case and are attached to arrest warrants, said Rutherford pulled a handgun from his waistband during the altercation, pointed it at Nathan Phillips, 36, and fired. Phillips had two gunshot wounds to his left upper arm, the affidavits said. [Read more…]

Claxton woman indicted in alleged backpage.com robbery

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Lindsay Elaine Pressley

Lindsay Elaine Pressley

 

A Claxton woman has been indicted in an alleged robbery at gunpoint in Claxton in 2016 that authorities said started with an advertisement for escort services posted on backpage.com.

Lindsay Elaine Pressley, 27, was indicted by the Anderson County Grand Jury on November 7. She was arrested Thursday and remained jailed in the Anderson County Detention Facility on Saturday night, with her bond set at $100,000.

The grand jury indicted Pressley on four charges: aggravated robbery, especially aggravated kidnapping with a deadly weapon, conspiracy to commit aggravated robbery, and conspiracy to commit especially aggravated kidnapping.

In July, the grand jury indicted a Knoxville man, Richard Norman Pressley, 31, in the case. He was also charged with aggravated robbery, especially aggravated kidnapping using a weapon, conspiracy to commit aggravated robbery, and conspiracy to commit especially aggravated kidnapping. The Pressleys had been identified as husband and wife in a press release from the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department after the alleged robbery and kidnapping in a mobile home on Queen Street in Ben’s Mobile Home Park off Edgemoor Road in Claxton on May 21, 2016. [Read more…]

Kidnapping, assault charges added in Hibachi Burger robbery

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Dominique Leshawn Gordon

Dominique Leshawn Gordon

 

The Oak Ridge man charged in an alleged armed robbery at Hibachi Burger on January 10 also faces charges of especially aggravated kidnapping, aggravated kidnapping, and aggravated assault, according to court records.

Dominique Leshawn Gordon, 21, of Hamilton Circle, faces one charge of aggravated robbery, one charge of especially aggravated kidnapping, eight charges of aggravated kidnapping, and nine charges of aggravated assault.

The alleged robbery at the Grove Center business occurred at about 6:10 p.m. Tuesday, January 10. Warrants filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge said Gordon entered Hibachi Burger with a handgun.

“The defendant demanded money from the register while displaying the firearm to several employees and patrons, placing them in fear of serious bodily injury,” Oak Ridge Police Department Detective A. Marvell Moore said in affidavits attached to arrest warrants. “After obtaining the money, the defendant fled on foot.”

He was caught a short time later by patrol officers. A search found the cash taken from Hibachi Burger, according to the warrants. [Read more…]

Attempted second-degree murder, aggravated kidnapping charges dismissed

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Jacob Lynn Rutherford

Jacob Lynn Rutherford

Four charges against an Oak Ridge man that included attempted second-degree murder and especially aggravated kidnapping were dismissed in July after a victim or state witness failed to appear, according to court records and court officials.

Jacob Lynn Rutherford, 22, had also been charged with aggravated assault and assault. Those charges were also dismissed.

Rutherford had been charged in two separate alleged assaults this year, one on February 25 and another on April 28. Police responded to both alleged assaults at 101 Locust Lane, where Rutherford lives.

Rutherford allegedly used a metal rod in one of the beatings, authorities said, and he was also accused of hitting the woman in the head with a gun and forcing her into his vehicle at gunpoint, according to arrest warrants.

The charges were dismissed in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge on July 26, when a state witness or victim did not appear. Judgements on the aggravated assault and especially aggravated kidnapping charges said the victim failed to appear. That’s the same victim as in the attempted second-degree murder charge. [Read more…]

Wanted by TBI, Rogersville fugitive captured in Hawkins County

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Gary Simpson

Gary Simpson

A Rogersville man who was added to the TBI’s Top Ten Most Wanted list Thursday was captured later that afternoon in Hawkins County, authorities said.

Gary Simpson, 57, was wanted by the Rogersville Police Department and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation for especially aggravated kidnapping.

On May 4, Simpson kidnapped 9-year-old Carlie Marie Trent from school, the TBI said. He had no custodial rights to Carlie.

Simpson was the suspect of the AMBER Alert issued this month for Carlie Trent. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge man accused of assaulting two women, one with metal rod

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Jacob Lynn Rutherford

Jacob Lynn Rutherford

 

Note: This story was updated at 8:15 a.m. April 30.

An Oak Ridge man is accused of assaulting two women in two separate incidents, and he allegedly used a metal rod in one of the beatings, authorities said. Jacob Lynn Rutherford, 21, is also accused of hitting one of the women in the head with a gun and forcing her into his vehicle at gunpoint, according to arrest warrants.

Rutherford has been charged with attempted second-degree murder, especially aggravated kidnapping, aggravated assault, and assault, according to the warrants, which were filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court.

The first alleged assault occurred on February 25 and the second on April 28, the warrants said. Police responded to both alleged assaults at 101 Locust Lane, where Rutherford lives.

In the first case, Oak Ridge Police Department Officer Kenneth Prickett said the victim, a Powell woman, showed signs of bruising around her right eye and blood around her nose.

“(She) also showed bruising around her right wrist and swelling in her right hand,” Prickett said in an arrest warrant. [Read more…]

Warrants: Robbery suspect allegedly hit worker on head with gun before taking cash

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Kianna D. Hill

Kianna D. Hill

The two Georgia residents accused of robbing a check cashing store in Oak Ridge in June allegedly ordered employees to the rear of the store at gunpoint and demanded that a male manager open the safe, authorities said. When the manager didn’t move fast enough, authorities said, the male suspect allegedly hit the employee on the head several times with the handgun while the female suspect yelled at the male suspect, “Just shoot him!”

One of the two suspects, Kianna Denise Hill, 21, of East Point, Georgia, was brought to the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton on Friday. She faces three counts of aggravated robbery and one count of especially aggravated kidnapping.

The other suspect is Arvenzio Clyde Miles, 22, of Riverdale, Georgia. He apparently hasn’t been extradited yet; he is not listed as an inmate at the Anderson County jail.

Hill and Miles are accused in an armed robbery at Check Into Cash at 361 South Illinois Avenue at about 3:15 p.m. Friday, June 26. Authorities said the store was allegedly robbed by two suspects armed with handguns. Hill and Miles were arrested in East Point, Georgia, southwest of Atlanta, on Wednesday, July 8. [Read more…]

Warrants: Man armed with knife tried to kidnap two children

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Justin Len Williams

Justin Len Williams

An Oak Ridge man allegedly broke into a home this month, assaulted the mother of his children, threw a five-inch kitchen knife at a man at the home, and tried to kidnap two kids, authorities said.

Justin L. Williams, 23, is accused of going upstairs at the Knoll Lane home armed with a five-inch kitchen knife and confronting the woman in the hall, shoving her against a door and to the floor, and assaulting her again outside while taking her car keys to get child seats, according to arrest warrants filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court.

The woman, who had a laceration to her right big toe, reportedly called 911 on her cell phone during the assault at about 4:18 a.m. January 14, the warrants said. [Read more…]

Arrest made in Louisiana in gang-related attempted murder

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Crystal Lynnette McGuire

Crystal Lynnette McGuire

Crystal Lynnette McGuire, who was wanted in connection with a gang-related attempted murder in Claxton in December, was arrested without incident in Louisiana on Wednesday by the Sabine Parish Sheriff’s Department, authorities said.

“Our investigators were in contact with Louisiana authorities throughout the day after learning McGuire may have been in that area,” Anderson County Sheriff’s Department Chief Deputy Mark Lucas said. “She was located and arrested earlier this afternoon by sheriff’s deputies in Sabine County.”

The Sheriff’s Department said it does not have information about McGuire’s extradition or when she may be brought back to Anderson County.

“It may be several days before all the paperwork will be completed for this to occur,” Lucas said. [Read more…]