• About
    • About Us
    • What We Cover
  • Advertise
    • Advertise
    • Our Advertisers
  • Contact
  • Donate
  • Send News

Oak Ridge Today

  • Home
  • Sign in
  • News
    • Business
    • Community
    • Education
    • Government
    • Health
    • Police and Fire
    • U.S. Department of Energy
    • Weather
  • Sports
    • High School
    • Middle School
    • Recreation
    • Rowing
    • Youth
  • Entertainment
    • Arts
    • Dancing
    • Movies
    • Music
    • Television
    • Theater
  • Premium Content
  • Obituaries
  • Classifieds

Warrants: Woman admits residents made meth in Tusculum Drive apartment

Posted at 10:32 am April 2, 2016
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Kimberly Hughes Welch

Kimberly Hughes Welch

An Oak Ridge woman who lives at an apartment raided by police on Wednesday admitted that she and a man who also lives at the home were using methamphetamine laboratory components, including chemicals and pseudoephedrine powder, to make meth there, authorities said.

Besides the chemicals and pseudoephedrine, officers also found gas generators, hoses, and what they described as bi-layer liquids, according to arrest warrants. Police described those items as meth lab components. They were allegedly found inside Apartment C at 197 Tusculum Drive during a Wednesday evening search, according to the warrants, which were filed by Simon Byrne of the Seventh District Crime Task Force.

Raynell Fountaine Hopson

Raynell Fountaine Hopson

After she was read her Miranda rights, apartment resident Kimberly Welch, 48, told police that she and Raynell Hopson, 47, who also lives in the apartment, were using the equipment to make meth, Byrne said.

Welch and Hopson have each been charged with the initiation of meth manufacturing, possession of drug paraphernalia, and the manufacture/delivery/sale of Schedule II drugs.

The alleged meth lab was within 1,000 feet of La Petite Academy on Tulsa Road, a drug-free school zone, so there could be a school zone enhancement to the charges, which would be applied at sentencing if Welch or Hopson are convicted, said Russell Barker, director of the Seventh District Crime Task Force. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Anderson County, Clinton, Front Page News, Oak Ridge, Oliver Springs, Police and Fire, Tennessee, Top Stories Tagged With: Anderson County Sheriff's Department, drugs, initiation of meth manufacturing, Kimberly Welch, manufacture/delivery/sale of Schedule II drugs, meth lab, methamphetamine laboratory, Oak Ridge Fire Department, Oak Ridge Police Department, ORFD, possession of drug paraphernalia, Raynell Hopson, Richard Henry Stein, Rick Coley, Russell Barker, Seventh District Crime Task Force, Simon Byrne, Tennessee Meth and Pharmaceutical Task Force, Tusculum Drive

Authorities find active meth lab on Tusculum Drive; three arrested

Posted at 4:30 pm March 31, 2016
By John Huotari 5 Comments

Tusculum-Drive-Meth-Lab-Bust-March-30-2016-2

Authorities found what they described as an active methamphetamine laboratory in a home on Tusculum Drive on Wednesday, March 30, 2016. Pictured above are three members of the 7th District Crime Task Force dressed in hazmat suits and using oxygen as they prepare to enter the back of the home. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was updated at 5:15 p.m.

Authorities found what they described as an active methamphetamine laboratory on Tusculum Drive on Wednesday, and three people were arrested, including two people who live at the home.

The Seventh District Crime Task Force determined the home was an active meth lab at about 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Director Russell Barker said. The alleged lab was inside a home at 197 Tusculum Drive, Apartment C.

Three members of the Crime Task Force first checked the home wearing hazardous materials suits and breathing oxygen. After they determined it was an active meth lab, they went back in to remove what Barker described as meth lab materials and trash left from cooking meth. Officers also found finished product, Barker said, although he didn’t have information on how much.

Officers collected the meth lab-related materials in front of the home on a blue tarp. Wearing gloves, boots, and sometimes using breathing masks with eye shields, they also placed some items in plastic five-gallon buckets.

A man and woman who live at the house were decontaminated and taken to jail in white Tyvek suits at about 7:45 p.m. Wednesday. Barker said one of them had been inside the home but was coming out when officers arrived. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Anderson County, Clinton, Front Page News, Oak Ridge, Oliver Springs, Police and Fire, Rocky Top, Tennessee, Top Stories Tagged With: Anderson County Sheriff's Department, Christopher Wallace, hazardous materials, meth lab, methamphetamine, methamphetamine laboratory, Nondo, Oak Ridge Fire Department, Oak Ridge Police Department, Russell Barker, Seventh District Crime Task Force, Tennessee Meth and Pharmaceutical Task Force, Tusculum Drive

Police: Remains of suspected meth lab found during search of home

Posted at 7:54 pm July 10, 2015
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Arthur Wilson Jr.

Arthur Wilson Jr.

Julia Wilson

Julia Wilson

The remains of a suspected methamphetamine laboratory were found during a search of a home on West Wadsworth Circle on Wednesday, authorities said.

Items found in a trash can in the basement of the home included coffee filters, a Coleman brand camp fuel can, lithium batteries that had been cut open, and lithium strips that appeared to have been chemically reacted, Oak Ridge Police Department Officer John Thomas said in arrest warrants. He said other items included a sports drink bottle with a two-part liquid, a soda bottle with a white powdery substance and holes that appeared to have been burned through the bottle from a chemical reaction inside, and two empty boxes of Claritin-D medicine that originally each contained 2.4 grams of pseudoephedrine.

The two defendants, Arthur Wilson Jr., 50, and Julia Wilson, 49, are on probation for convictions for manufacturing methamphetamine in Morgan County, the warrants said. The two are under the supervision of the Tennessee Department of Correction, and one of the conditions of probation is that the home can be searched, Thomas said. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Front Page News, Oak Ridge, Police and Fire, Top Stories Tagged With: Anderson County Detention Facility, Anderson County General Sessions Court, Arthur Wilson Jr., John Thomas, Julia Wilson, manufacture of a Schedule II drug, manufacturing methamphetamine, meth, meth lab, methamphetamine, methamphetamine laboratory, Morgan County, Oak Ridge Police Department, possession of drug paraphernalia, probation, pseudoephedrine, Schedule II drug, Tennessee Department of Correction, Walter Cum

Seven arrested at alleged meth lab on Oliver Springs Highway

Posted at 1:49 pm August 8, 2013
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Brittaney Michelle Blankenblicker

Brittaney Michelle Blankenblicker

Jamie Lynn Fleisch

Jamie Lynn Fleisch

Seven people were arrested Wednesday afternoon at an alleged methamphetamine laboratory on Oliver Springs Highway, authorities said.

Anderson County Sheriff’s Department deputies went to the home on a drug investigation and found an active meth lab, Sheriff Paul White said in a press release. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Anderson County, Police and Fire, Top Stories Tagged With: Anderson County Detention Facility, Anderson County Sheriff's Department, Brittaney Michelle Blankenblicker, criminal conspiracy, Daniel Glenn Lewis, Gary Lynn Gregory Goodman, Jamie Lynn Fleisch, Jean Ann Lewis, meth lab, meth manufacturing, methamphetamine laboratory, Michael Edward Weiss, Oliver Springs Highway, Paul White, promotion of meth manufacturing, Timothy Dale Leinart

Meth lab bust includes 90 pounds of ammonia, 700 coffee filters, acid, fuel

Posted at 1:55 pm March 7, 2013
By John Huotari 1 Comment

Anderson County authorities serving a warrant at a mobile home on Becks Lane in Claxton on Monday found an alleged methamphetamine laboratory that included 90 pounds of anhydrous ammonia, 700 coffee filters, two gallons of muriatic acid, and more than a gallon of Coleman fuel, as well as a white substance that tested positive for meth, records said.

Ingredients and equipment that could be used to make meth were scattered around the home, including in a shed near the back of the home, in a 1996 Buick, and under a motor home in the driveway, according to an Anderson County Sheriff’s Department report. Authorities detected the “distinct odor” of anhydrous ammonia at several places near the home, Anderson County Sheriff’s Department Investigator Jason D. Leach said in the report.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Anderson County, Police and Fire, Top Stories Tagged With: Anderson County Sheriff's Department, anhydrous ammonia, Becks Lane, Claxton, coffee filters, Coleman fuel, David Charles Estes, Elmer Carl Murphy, hazardous materials, Jason D. Leach, Johnathan Acker, Kimberly Kay Murphy, meth, meth lab, methamphetamine laboratory, muriatic acid, Tennessee Department of Children’s Services, Tennessee Methamphetamine Task Force, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Wally Braden

Search Oak Ridge Today

Classifieds

Availability of the draft environmental assessment for off-site depleted uranium manufacturing (DOE/EA-2252)

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) announces the … [Read More...]

Public Notice: NNSA announces no significant impact of Y-12 Development Organization operations at Horizon Center

AVAILABILITY OF THE FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR THE OFFSITE HOUSING OF THE Y-12 DEVELOPMENT … [Read More...]

ADFAC seeks contractors for five homes

Aid to Distressed Families of Appalachian Counties (ADFAC) is a non-profit community based agency, … [Read More...]

Recent Posts

  • Flatwater Tales Storytelling Festival Announces 2025 Storytellers
  • Laser-Engraved Bricks Will Line Walkway of New Chamber Headquarters
  • Democratic Women’s Club to Discuss Climate Change, Energy and Policy
  • Estate Jewelry Show at Karen’s Jewelers Features Celebrity Jewelry
  • Keri Cagle named new ORAU senior vice president and ORISE director
  • ORAU Annual Giving Campaign exceeds $100,000 goal+ORAU Annual Giving Campaign exceeds $100,000 goal More than $1 million raised in past 10 years benefits United Way and Community Shares Oak Ridge, Tenn. —ORAU exceeded its goal of raising $100,000 in donations as part of its internal annual giving campaign that benefits the United Way and Community Shares nonprofit organizations. ORAU has raised more than $1 million over the past 10 years through this campaign. A total of $126,839 was pledged during the 2024 ORAU Annual Giving Campaign. Employees donate via payroll deduction and could earmark their donation for United Way, Community Shares or both. “ORAU has remained a strong pillar in the community for more than 75 years, and we encourage our employees to consider participating in our annual giving campaign each year to help our less fortunate neighbors in need,” said ORAU President and CEO Andy Page. “Each one of our employees has the power to positively impact the lives of those who need help in the communities where we do business across the country and demonstrate the ORAU way – taking care of each other.” ORAU, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation, provides science, health and workforce solutions that address national priorities and serve the public interest. Through our specialized teams of experts and access to a consortium of more than 150 major Ph.D.-granting institutions, ORAU works with federal, state, local and commercial customers to provide innovative scientific and technical solutions and help advance their missions. ORAU manages the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Learn more about ORAU at www.orau.org. Learn more about ORAU at www.orau.org. Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OakRidgeAssociatedUniversities Follow us on X (formerly Twitter): https://twitter.com/orau Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/orau ###
  • Children’s Museum Gala Celebrates the Rainforest
  • Jim Sears joins ORAU as senior vice president
  • Oak Ridge Housing Authority Receives Funding Assistance of up to $51.8 Million For Renovating Public Housing and Building New Workforce Housing
  • Two fires reported early Friday

Recent Comments

  • Raymond Mitchell on City manager’s ‘State of the City’ canceled due to weather
  • Raymond Mitchell on City manager’s ‘State of the City’ canceled due to weather
  • Mysti M Desilva on Crews clearing roads, repairing water line breaks
  • Mel Schuster on Crews clearing roads, repairing water line breaks
  • Cecil King on Crews clearing roads, repairing water line breaks
  • Rick Morrow on Roads, schools, businesses closed after heavy snow
  • Diana lively on Free community Thanksgiving Dinner on Nov. 25
  • Anne Garcia on School bus driver arrested following alleged assault on elementary student
  • Raymond Dickover on Blockhouse Valley Recycling Center now open 6 days per week
  • Mike Mahathy on School bus driver arrested following alleged assault on elementary student

Copyright © 2025 Oak Ridge Today