Oak Ridge Today

DA: No charges will be filed in fatal police shooting

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No criminal charges will be filed against three Oak Ridge Police Department officers after a fatal shooting on Briar Road in August, the county’s top prosecutor said Monday.

Seventh Judicial District Attorney General Dave Clark released his report about the police shooting on Monday morning.

The report said that the man who died in the shooting, Fred J. Arcera, 25, was a U.S. Army veteran who had mental health problems and was reported to be suicidal—telling officers to kill him—and he had large butcher knives and had threatened officers, moving toward them with the knives that Saturday night.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation investigated the shooting, which is common after law enforcement officers fatally shoot someone.

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Oak Ridge man charged with murder in drug death

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Ronald Nicholas Bunch
Ronald Nicholas Bunch

An Oak Ridge man has been charged with second-degree murder in the drug-related death of another Oak Ridge man in February.

It could be the first time that anyone has been charged with murder, rather than homicide, for a drug-related fatality in Anderson County. There has been a previous case where a man was charged with and convicted of homicide in a drug overdose death.

The man who died on February 6 was Steven Douglas Scruggs, 34.

Indicted in his death was Ronald Nicholas Bunch, 28, of West Wadsworth Circle in Oak Ridge. Bunch’s indictment for second-degree murder on June 4 said he unlawfully and knowingly killed Scruggs through the unlawful distribution of a Schedule II controlled substance, and the drug caused Scruggs’ death. Second-degree murder is a Class A felony in Tennessee.

The charge of second-degree murder, part of a three-count indictment, doesn’t specifically say what drug killed Scruggs. But the second count of the indictment charged Bunch with possessing fentanyl, a Schedule II medication, for resale.

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Woman indicted on carjacking, attempted robbery charges

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Sheila K Jones

Sheila K. Jones

 

An Oliver Springs woman has been indicted on charges of attempted robbery, carjacking, and assault, among other counts, after she allegedly took a vehicle from another Oliver Springs woman in Oak Ridge in May and fled from police, according to Anderson County court records.

The specific charges against Sheila Kaye Jones, 43, include carjacking, attempted robbery, assault, reckless endangerment when a deadly weapon is involved, reckless driving, evading arrest, and driving on a suspended or revoked license with six prior offenses. Jones was indicted by the Anderson County Grand Jury in Clinton on March 13.

She has an arraignment set for Monday, March 26, in Anderson County Criminal Court in Clinton.

Jones has been jailed at the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton since May 10.

Charges against Jones were bound over, or sent to the grand jury, after a preliminary hearing in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge on August 22. [Read more…]

ORPD welcomes new police officers, celebrates deputy chief promotion

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ORPD-Uher-Smith-Smith-Akagi-Feb-19-2016-1

Officials and officers celebrated the promotion of Charles Robin Smith, second from left, to deputy chief during a promotions and swearing-in ceremony in the Oak Ridge Municipal Building on Friday, Feb. 19, 2016. Also pictured are, at left, Captain Michael Uher, retired TVA Commander Charles Smith (the deputy chief’s father), second from right, and Oak Ridge Police Chief James Akagi. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

New Oak Ridge Police Department officers were sworn in at the Oak Ridge Municipal Building on Friday, and the department celebrated the promotion of Charles Robin Smith to deputy chief.

Smith has served with the Oak Ridge Police Department since 2012.

Before he joined the ORPD, he served for 17 years with the Tennessee Valley Authority Police. He served the last 14 of those as commander of police operations.

Smith began his law enforcement career with the Sevierville Police Department, where he worked 15 years.

Smith is a 1982 graduate of the Tennessee Law Enforcement Training Academy and a 1990 graduate of the FBI National Academy. He has a bachelor’s degree in applied organizational management from Tusculum College and master’s in business administration from Bethel University.

ORPD-New-Officers-Feb-19-2016

New Oak Ridge Police Department officers were sworn in at the Oak Ridge Municipal Building on Friday, Feb. 19, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Here is information on the new officers sworn into service, provided by the Oak Ridge Police Department: [Read more…]