Oak Ridge Today

Teen confesses to starting Linden car fire, police say

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Linden Elementary School Car Fire

An Oak Ridge teenager has confessed to starting a car fire at Linden Elementary School on March 8, and police are investigating other fires near the school that could be linked to the vehicle arson, authorities said Monday. (Photos by Tom Scott)

Note: This story was updated at 7:35 p.m.

An Oak Ridge teenager has confessed to starting a car fire at Linden Elementary School on March 8, and police are investigating other fires near the school that could be linked to the vehicle arson, authorities said Monday.

Jovon Brooks, 18, was identified through a combination of video surveillance tapes from Linden, independent information that the suspect could be an Oak Ridge High School student, and the work of Oak Ridge Police Department school resource officers and the Criminal Investigations Division, a press release said.

ORPD school resource officers reviewed video surveillance tapes from Linden Elementary School, and they showed a young man walking toward the car with a brick in his hand, the press release said.

“The Criminal Investigations Division then developed independent information the suspect was possibly an Oak Ridge High School student, which allowed school resource officers to positively identify the suspect as Jovon Brooks, 18 years of age,” the release said. “(He) resides in the neighborhood surrounding Linden school. Detectives interviewed Mr. Brooks, who confessed to starting the fire.”

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Reward offered for car, brush arsons near Linden Elementary

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Linden Elementary School Brush Fire

The Oak Ridge Fire Department has battled two brush fires near Linden Elementary School in the past 30 days. This one was March 22 behind the school. (Photos by Tom Scott)

Note: This story was last updated at 1:18 p.m.

Oak Ridge authorities are offering a reward to anyone who has information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person or people who started a car and brush fires at or near Linden Elementary School during the past month.

Oak Ridge Fire Chief Darryl Kerley said three fires have been extinguished at the following addresses in the past 30 days: 

  • A woods fire at 5:15 p.m. Feb. 27  on Montclair Road near Linden Elementary School.
  • A car fire at 6:20 p.m. March 8 at Linden Elementary School. A second car had been vandalized.
  • A woods fire at 4:48 p.m. March 22 behind Linden Elementary School.

“All three of these fires are under investigation through the joint efforts of the Oak Ridge Fire Department and Oak Ridge Police Department,” Kerley said in a press release. “The fires are possibly connected to the same person(s) or people, so several individuals, not yet identified, are of interest in each of these fires.” [Read more…]

Authorities investigate vehicle fire at Linden Elementary School

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Linden Elementary School Car Fire

The Oak Ridge Fire Department responded to a car fire at Linden Elementary School on Saturday, March, 8. (Photos by Tom Scott)

The cause of a vehicle fire at the Linden Elementary School on Saturday, March 8, hadn’t been determined as of Thursday, authorities said.

The fire was reported at about 6:20 p.m. March 8.

An investigation determined that another car in the parking lot had been vandalized, and a brick was found on the roof of the car on fire as the blaze was extinguished, Oak Ridge Fire Department Chief Darryl Kerley said Thursday. “No cause has been determined for the fire at this time,” he said. [Read more…]

Family, friends remember Cub Scout who wanted to be a police officer

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Treí-Roan Vann and Football Trophy

Treí-Roan Vann is pictured above with a second-place football trophy in the Boys Club VFC Conference on Oct. 26. (Photo courtesy Crist Vann)

Like his older brother David, Treí-Roan Vann wanted to be a police officer when he grew up. He also wanted to play soccer this year. He never got the chance to do either.

Treí, a third-grade student at Linden Elementary School, was found unresponsive on his school bus at about 4:10 p.m. Tuesday near his home on Wilberforce Avenue. He was taken by ambulance to Methodist Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

His father Crist Vann said Treí, as he was called, was a very good eight-year-old.

“He didn’t get into too many problems,” Vann said Wednesday night. “He was always concerned about people. He was always willing to lend a helping hand. He was always the life of the room.”

It’s not clear what happened to Treí on Tuesday.

“He went to school,” Crist Vann said. “Everybody at school said he was fine. On the way home, he was unresponsive. They thought he was asleep. They couldn’t bring him back.” [Read more…]

Fund forming to help family after student’s death as counselors meet with classmates

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Linden Elementary School

Linden Elementary School is pictured above.

Counselors met with students at Linden Elementary School this morning, and a parent-teacher organization is forming a fund to accept donations to help the family of a third-grader who died Tuesday, an official said.

Oak Ridge Schools Superintendent Bruce Borchers said there were five counselors from elementary and middle schools, and the school psychologist who serves Linden, at the west-end elementary school this morning.

“They have met with students who appeared upset or anxious,” Borchers said in a Wednesday afternoon e-mail. “I will tell you, though, it has been remarkably calm in my opinion.”

The boy was found unresponsive on a school bus on Wilberforce Avenue at about 4:10 p.m. Tuesday. An ambulance took him to Methodist Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. The boy has not been identified, and the cause of his death has not been determined. [Read more…]

Rescuers tried to save unresponsive student, cause of death unknown

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Linden Elementary School

Linden Elementary School is pictured above.

The third-grade student who died Tuesday had appeared to be asleep on a school bus, officials said Wednesday.

But other students were unable to awake him at a bus stop on Wilberforce Avenue at about 4:10 p.m. Tuesday. The bus driver parked the bus and went back to check on the boy, but she was unable to wake him or get him to respond, Oak Ridge Fire Department Chief Darryl Kerley said.

She called 911. A dispatcher gave the bus driver instructions to care for the boy until rescuers arrived, Kerley said.

Firefighters responded within two minutes. The bus stop is behind a fire station on Tuskegee Avenue. The boy was taken by ambulance to Methodist Medical Center, where he was later pronounced dead. [Read more…]

Linden student becomes unresponsive on bus, pronounced dead at hospital

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Linden Elementary School

Linden Elementary School is pictured above.

A Linden Elementary School student who became unresponsive on the bus ride home Tuesday afternoon was later pronounced dead at Methodist Medical Center, school officials said Tuesday evening.

“It is a very sad day for Linden Elementary, Oak Ridge Schools, and the entire Oak Ridge community,” Oak Ridge Schools said in a press release. “The thoughts and prayers of the Linden and Oak Ridge Schools’ staff go out to the family. The student was a wonderful student who was a Lion through and through.

“Please join us in keeping his family, friends, and the entire Linden Elementary School family in your thoughts and prayers during this most difficult time.”

Linden Elementary School will provide grief counselors at the school on Wednesday to help students, parents, and friends deal with their thoughts and feelings associated with this loss, the release said.

The boy was not identified.

More information will be added as it becomes available.

Oak Ridge Schools students, staff increase United Way donations by more than 25 percent

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Oak Ridge Schools Donate to United Way

Michael Mott, second from left, was the winner of the grand prize of a weekend getaway donated by United Way of Anderson County Loaned Executive Becky Hook, a retired Oak Ridge teacher. Mott is pictured above with Oak Ridge Schools Superintendent Bruce Borchers, right, and Principal Bruce Lay, left, and Rick Morrow, UWAC executive director. (Submitted photo)

Students and staff in the Oak Ridge School system increased their contributions to this year’s United Way of Anderson County campaign by more than 25 percent, an official said.

“We are excited to be able to give back to our community,” said Bruce Borchers, Oak Ridge School superintendent. “This is a great community to be part of.”

“To see an increase during these very challenging times really means a lot,” said Rick Morrow, UWAC executive director. [Read more…]

ORAU awards $39,000 in education grants to East Tennessee schools

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ORAU Education Grants

Oak Ridge Associated Universities awards 27 teachers from 17 East Tennessee schools more than $39,000 during a recent grants ceremony. (Submitted photo)

Oak Ridge Associated Universities awarded more than $39,000 to more than two dozen teachers in 17 schools in Oak Ridge, Clinton, Norris, and Anderson County in a recent grants ceremony.

It was the 12th annual ORAU Education Grants ceremony, and 27 teachers received awards, a press release said.

The grant money can be used to buy educational materials and equipment such as microscopes, iPads, robotics kits, and computers that will help teachers “continue to meet rigorous, state-wide curriculum standards and enhance the learning experience of their students,” the release said. [Read more…]

Neighbors respond to alleged knife attack with gun, videotape, but no suspect found

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Kayla Pesterfield

Kayla Pesterfield

An Oak Ridge woman who alleged she was attacked and cut with a knife by an unknown man in her home on Tuesday afternoon was charged with false reporting after police checked the Beverly Circle property and reviewed a neighbor’s videotape, which showed no man had entered or left the residence, authorities said.

Kayla Pesterfield, 21, reported the alleged assault at about 4:30 p.m. Tuesday. She said the stranger was in her bedroom and attacked her by pushing her up against a wall. The man then cut her right thigh and the front of her shorts with a knife, Pesterfield told police, according to an arrest warrant.  [Read more…]

Woman reports stranger in home, police find insufficient evidence to confirm

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Police had insufficient evidence to either prove or disprove a report that a woman returned home to find an unknown man in a South Beverly Circle house on Tuesday afternoon and might have been injured by him, a spokesman said Wednesday.

The Oak Ridge Police Department received a call at about 4:30 p.m. Tuesday that a woman had returned to the house in west Oak Ridge and was surprised by the man inside.
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Home invasion call labeled a ‘hoax,’ but Linden school administrators notified

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A Friday morning call of a home invasion on Butler Road in west Oak Ridge led officers to notify administrators at nearby Linden Elementary School, but the home invasion report was determined to be unfounded, authorities said.

“It was a hoax,” Oak Ridge Police Department Lt. Robin Smith said. “There was nothing to the call at all.” [Read more…]