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Two die in crashes in Anderson County

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Two people died in crashes in Anderson County this past weekend. One was a student at Hardin Valley Academy, and the other was a 43-year-old Knoxville woman.

The first crash, which killed the HVA senior, was reported in the Claxton area on Friday night. Seventh Judicial District Attorney General Dave Clark said it was a graduation season tragedy involving some young people who had been celebrating in Knox County.

“Whether they were served alcohol at a commercial establishment is being investigated,” Clark said in a social media post on Saturday.

Clark said it appeared that eight people were riding in a pickup truck when it crashed in the Claxton area on New Henderson Road at Henderson Bend Road.

[Read more…]

Driver, passenger identified in fatal crash

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The passenger who died in a crash on State Route 95 on Wednesday has been identified as Ricky L. Crabtree, 39, of Oak Ridge.

The driver, who is Crabtree’s brother, has been identified as Rusty A. Crabtree, 37, also of Oak Ridge.

The crash was reported at 3:45 p.m. Wednesday on SR 95 just south of Bethel Valley Road, the western entrance to Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

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ORPD investigating fatal crash on SR 95 near Bethel Valley

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The Oak Ridge Police Department is investigating a fatal crash of a vehicle into a tree on Wednesday on State Route 95 just south of Bethel Valley Road.

When they arrived, police officers found a 39-year-old male passenger who was pronounced dead on the scene, a press release said. The driver was taken to Methodist Medical Center with injuries that weren’t life-threatening.

Identification of the male passenger is being withheld until relatives have been notified, the press release said.

[Read more…]

Roane County man dies in SR 95 crash

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Oak Ridge Police Vehicles
A Roane County man died in a single-vehicle crash on State Route 95 Wednesday night, Aug. 22, 2019, police said. (Photo courtesy Oak Ridge Police Department)

A Roane County man died in a single-vehicle crash on State Route 95 Wednesday night, police said.

The fatal crash was reported at about 9:40 p.m. Wednesday about one-tenth of a mile south of Bethel Valley Road, west of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the Oak Ridge Police Department said.

Dylan Young, 28, was driving the sport utility vehicle that crashed, and he was driving north on SR 95, the ORPD said. The SUV left the roadway and hit a tree, police said.

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Two teens die, two injured in Roane County crash

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Two teenagers died and two were injured in a single-vehicle crash into a tree in Roane County on Sunday afternoon, state troopers said.

The fatal crash was reported at about 2:42 p.m. Sunday on Orchard Valley Drive at Dyllis Road in Roane County. That’s north of Heritage Center, the former K-25 site in west Oak Ridge.

The two male passengers who died were Austin J. French, 18, and Joshua A. Freels, 16, according to a Tennessee Highway Patrol report.

[Read more…]

Driver identified in fatal crash on Edgemoor Road

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The driver killed in the two-vehicle crash on Edgemoor Road on Monday morning has been identified as Michelle Garcia, 61, of Clinton, police said.

The head-on collision, which killed Garcia and injured the other driver, was reported at about 6:30 a.m. Monday near Haw Ridge Park. The name of the other driver hasn’t been released yet.

“The crash remains under investigation,” the Oak Ridge Police Department said Friday. “No other details will be released at this time.”

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For members: Driver in fatal crash receives 12-year sentence

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Scott-Gray-Hearing-Aug-11-2016

The driver in a fatal two-vehicle crash on Clinton Highway in April 2016 has pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide by intoxication and reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon, and he received a 12-year sentence.

The defendant served more than the statutory minimum of 45 days before his plea agreement—he served about one year and one month in the Anderson County jail—and the rest of his 12-year sentence was suspended, to be served on intensive probation, among other conditions, according to Anderson County court records.

The crash three years ago killed a 23-year-old Heiskell woman.

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Tennessee Supreme Court will not hear Cromwell’s appeal

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Oak Ridge resident Lee Harold Cromwell, 68, was sentenced to 25 years in prison on 28 counts of forgery and filling fraudulent liens during a hearing in Nashville criminal court on Wednesday, June 27, 2018. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The Tennessee Supreme Court will not hear an appeal of a criminal case filed against Lee Harold Cromwell, who is now 69 and was convicted of reckless vehicular homicide in Anderson County Criminal Court two years ago after a fatal crash after fireworks in Oak Ridge in 2015. Cromwell is pictured above during a hearing in a Nashville criminal court on Wednesday, June 27, 2018, when he was sentenced to 25 years in prison in a separate case involving 28 counts of forgery and filling fraudulent liens. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The Tennessee Supreme Court will not hear an appeal of the criminal case filed against Lee Harold Cromwell, who was convicted of homicide after a fatal crash after fireworks in Oak Ridge in 2015.

Cromwell, who is now 69, had been convicted of reckless vehicular homicide and aggravated assault in Anderson County Criminal Court at the end of a three-day trial in February 2017.

But in July 2018, the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals in Knoxville said Cromwell is eligible for a new trial on the aggravated assault charges. The court cited misleading and confusing jury instructions. The aggravated assault convictions, which were reversed by the appeals court, had helped to add seven years to Cromwell’s sentence.

The court upheld Cromwell’s one conviction of reckless vehicular homicide and his five-year sentence on that charge.

In August, Cromwell appealed to the Tennessee Supreme Court. [Read more…]

Updated: Oliver Springs resident dies in collision with truck

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Note: This story was updated at 11:15 a.m. Jan. 22.

Information from WYSH Radio

A head-on collision involving a tractor-trailer in Oliver Springs on Sunday night killed one person and shut down Highway 61 leading into Oliver Springs for about 22 hours while crews cleaned up debris.

The Oliver Springs Police Department said that the fatal crash happened when a tractor-trailer dump truck was struck head-on by a car that crossed over the center line. The collision sent the tractor-trailer off the road and down an embankment, where it overturned and spilled diesel fuel and its cargo of sand. [Read more…]

Jury finds Patty guilty of homicide in fatal car-motorcycle crash

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Pictured above at left during the trial for Noelle Patty, center, of Oak Ridge, in Anderson County Criminal Court on Wednesday, July 25, 2018, are defense attorneys Michael Ritter, left, and David Ege. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Pictured above at left during the trial for Noelle Patty, 41, center, of Oak Ridge, in Anderson County Criminal Court on Wednesday, July 25, 2018, are defense attorneys Michael Ritter, left, and David Ege. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 4:20 p.m.

CLINTON—An Anderson County jury on Wednesday found an Oak Ridge resident guilty of criminally negligent homicide after a fatal car-motorcycle crash on North Illinois Avenue more than two years ago.

The jury of 10 men and two women deliberated about three hours before reaching its unanimous verdict at the end of a two-day trial of Noelle Leigh Patty, 41, in Anderson County Criminal Court in Clinton.

Patty was found not guilty of a second count, reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon, but the jury did find her guilty of what is known as a lesser included offense, a charge of reckless endangerment.

Patty was convicted of the two charges in the death of motorcyclist Rufus E. Shephard III, 44, of Oak Ridge.

“They finally got my brother some justice,” said Linda Shephard, after family members had exchanged hugs and tears with prosecutors and police officers. [Read more…]

Courts: Trial scheduled in fatal car-motorcycle crash

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Noelle Leigh Patty

Noelle Leigh Patty

CLINTON—A trial has been scheduled this month for an Oak Ridge woman charged with homicide after a fatal car-motorcycle crash on North Illinois Avenue in January 2016.

The felony jury trial for Noelle Leigh Patty, 41, is scheduled for July 24 in Anderson County Criminal Court in Clinton. Patty has been charged with homicide in the death of motorcyclist Rufus E. Shephard III, 44, of Oak Ridge.

On Friday, Anderson County Criminal Court Judge Don Elledge rejected a motion to dismiss two of the five charges filed against Patty: criminally negligent homicide and reckless endangerment when a deadly weapon is involved. The Anderson County Grand Jury has found probable cause on the five charges, Elledge said, and no facts or evidence had been presented to the court yet. He called the motion to dismiss “totally premature.”

Patty was indicted on the five charges by the Anderson County Grand Jury on August 1, 2017. Besides homicide and reckless endangerment, the charges included failure to yield the right-of-way resulting in death, failure to obey a traffic control device, and failure to provide proof of insurance.

The crash occurred between a Cadillac STS car and Kawasaki Ninja motorcycle on Sunday evening, January 31, 2016, at the western exit of the Westcott Center, the Kroger shopping center. Authorities said Patty, who was driving the Cadillac, made an improper left turn from a right-turn-only lane at that exit, and she failed to yield to Shephard, who was riding the motorcycle north on North Illinois Avenue. Shephard died after he collided with the car, which was turning south in “the pathway of northbound traffic,” Oak Ridge Police Department Officer Chris Luethge said in arrest warrants filed after the crash.

The rest of this story, which you will find only on Oak Ridge Today, is available if you are a member: a subscriber, advertiser, or recent contributor to Oak Ridge Today. The rest of the story includes information about the “undisputed facts,” results of alcohol and drug tests, and arguments for and against dismissing two of the five charges.

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Note: Most news stories on Oak Ridge Today are free, brought to you by Oak Ridge Today with help from our advertisers, sponsors, and subscribers. Some are considered premium content. This story is premium content. Premium content can include coverage of court cases and in-depth, investigative, and exclusive stories.

In depth: Cromwell gets new trial in fatal July 4 fireworks crash

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Lee Harold Cromwell (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Lee Harold Cromwell (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Lee Harold Cromwell, who was convicted of homicide and aggravated assault after a fatal crash after fireworks three years ago, is eligible for a new trial on the aggravated assault charges, a state appeals court said Tuesday.

After reviewing several issues raised on appeal, the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals in Knoxville upheld Cromwell’s one conviction of reckless vehicular homicide and his five-year sentence on that charge.

But citing misleading and confusing jury instructions, the court ordered a new trial in Anderson County Criminal Court in Clinton on the eight convictions of reckless aggravated assault. Those convictions, which were reversed by the appeals court on Tuesday, had helped to add seven years to Cromwell’s sentence.

“After our review, we affirm the evidence was sufficient to support the defendant’s convictions and the trial court properly sentenced the defendant, but (we) conclude the trial court committed reversible error in instructing the jury as to reckless aggravated assault,” the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals said. “Therefore, we vacate the defendant’s eight convictions for reckless aggravated assault and remand this case to the trial court for a new trial.”

The rest of this in-depth content, which includes exclusive coverage of oral arguments and the jury instructions, is available if you are a member: a subscriber, advertiser, or recent contributor to Oak Ridge Today. 

Already a member? Great! Thank you! Sign in here.

Not a member? No problem! Subscribe here:

Please let us know if you advertise on Oak Ridge Today, have recently contributed, or subscribe through PayPal or check payments, but you have not yet been added to our website as a member. You can send an email to [email protected] to be added. Thank you!

Note: Most news stories on Oak Ridge Today are free, brought to you by Oak Ridge Today with help from our advertisers, sponsors, and subscribers. Some are considered premium content. This story is premium content. Premium content can include in-depth, investigative, and exclusive stories.

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