Man surrenders after allegedly holding 9-year-old girl hostage

New York Avenue Man Surrenders Jan 12 2017

A man surrendered to Oak Ridge police after allegedly holding a 9-year-old girl hostage on Norton Road for about 1.5 hours on Thursday, Jan. 12, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

  Note: This story was last updated at 10:15 p.m. A man who had allegedly taken a nine-year-old girl hostage and was armed with a rifle when police responded to a family disturbance peacefully surrendered to Oak Ridge police officers after about 1.5 hours of negotiations on Thursday, authorities said. The child was rescued, and the armed suspect was taken into custody, the Oak Ridge Police Department said. No injuries were reported after the man, later identified as Robert Foreman, 36, of Oak Ridge, surrendered. Part of New York Avenue was closed Thursday evening as officers negotiated with Foreman and set up a perimeter. Foreman’s relationship to the girl wasn’t immediately clear Thursday. His motive also wasn’t clear. [Read more…]

Family, friends remember Brayden Pearson, seek to honor his ‘zest for life’

Bubbles for Brayden Pearson

Family and friends blow bubbles for Brayden Pearson during a Friday night vigil at the Boys and Girls Club of Oak Ridge.

 

He wore No. 14 when he played baseball and basketball for the Boys and Girls Club. Only eight years old and going into fourth grade, he hadn’t really decided on a profession yet, but he thought playing major league baseball “would be awesome,” a family friend said.

So it was fitting that family and friends gathered in the outfield of a baseball field at the Boys and Girls Club of Oak Ridge to remember Brayden Pearson on Friday. They described Brayden as a lively boy with thick, curly hair, and a contagious laugh—”the best laugh ever,” said Tracy Stewart, a member of the close-knit sports family at the club. Brayden loved school, family friend Sara VanLandingham said.

Brayden died Monday, two days after he had trouble while snorkeling near a swimming area at Clark Center Park in south Oak Ridge. He had to be pulled from the lake that Saturday afternoon. Family and friends performed CPR, and 911 was called. The Oak Ridge police and fire departments responded and continued CPR, and Brayden was flown by a Lifestar medical helicopter to East Tennessee Children’s Hospital in Knoxville.

The family said they wanted to continue Brayden’s zest for life by donating his organs to other children who need them. On Friday, VanLandingham, who has been speaking on behalf of the family, said four organs had been successfully removed for donation. [Read more…]

Report: Man drives aggressively toward police, flees at speeds near 100 mph

Jerry Dale Allmon

Jerry Dale Allmon

An Oak Ridge man allegedly drove aggressively toward police officers at a BP gas station early Monday morning before fleeing west on Oak Ridge Turnpike in a chase that reached speeds of close to 100 mph, Anderson County court records said.

Jerry Dale Allmon, 59, allegedly ran several red lights as he fled, and he drove in the center of the road and in the middle of two traffic lanes, arrest warrants said. The Kingston Police Department apprehended him at the former K-25 site in west Oak Ridge, the warrants said.

[Read more…]