The Oak Ridge Police Department and ASAP of Anderson will participate in the national DEA Drug Take Back Day next Saturday.
The Drug Take Back Day is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, April 27. Anyone in the community can drop off their expired or unused medication to a police officer at the ORPD at 200 South Tulane Avenue in Oak Ridge, a press release said.
According to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, the most common method of obtaining pills is through family and friends.
“Prescription drugs could be easily stolen at home when they are left in unlocked cabinets and drawers,” the press release said.
The Oak Ridge Police Department is working with a national center to find a child who was last seen in Oak Ridge in 2016 and to identify a newborn baby found floating along the shoreline of Melton Hill Lake almost three years ago.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has posted information about the two children on its website, which is partially funded through a U.S. Department of Justice grant.
In the first case, investigators said Maria Contreras Lopez was last seen in Oak Ridge on September 29, 2016. She was born August 9, 2000, and was 16 years old when she was last seen. She would be 22 now. Maria is female and Hispanic with brown hair and eyes. She could be about 5’3″ and 115 pounds.
A man who had been accused of fighting with Oak Ridge police officers and significantly injuring one of them was sentenced to three years in prison when he pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and reckless endangerment against one of the officers.
That officer had been taken to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville with a significant arm injury, and two other officers had been taken to Methodist Medical Center to have their injuries evaluated, the City of Oak Ridge said at the time. One had been hit with a taser taken by the defendant, according to affidavits filed at the time.
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An Oak Ridge Police Department officer was injured in a crash and children were taken to the hospital as a man fled from police on Wednesday, April 4, 2018, authorities said. (File photo by City of Oak Ridge/Oak Ridge Police Department)
An Oak Ridge man received an eight-year sentence Tuesday when he pleaded guilty to seven charges after fleeing from police on South Illinois Avenue four years ago, crashing, and attempting two carjackings in the Panera Bread drive-through.
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An Oak Ridge man received an eight-year sentence Tuesday when he pleaded guilty to seven charges after fleeing from police on South Illinois Avenue four years ago, crashing, and attempting two carjackings in the Panera Bread drive-through.
Khristoff Deshawn Lee, 29, pleaded guilty in Anderson County Criminal Court Tuesday afternoon to two counts of attempted carjacking, two counts of reckless aggravated assault, reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon, aggravated assault with a weapon, and evading arrest.
An Oak Ridge Police Department officer was injured in a crash and children were taken to the hospital as a man fled from police on Wednesday, April 4, 2018, authorities said. (File photo by City of Oak Ridge/Oak Ridge Police Department)
An Oak Ridge man received an eight-year sentence Tuesday when he pleaded guilty to seven charges after fleeing from police on South Illinois Avenue four years ago, crashing, and attempting two carjackings in the Panera Bread drive-through.
The rest of this story is available if you are a member: a subscriber, advertiser, or contributor to Oak Ridge Today.Already a member? Great! Thank you! Sign in here.Not a member? No problem! Subscribe here:Basic
If you prefer to send a check, you may do so by mailing one to: Oak Ridge TodayP.O. Box 6064Oak Ridge, TN 37831 We also have advanced subscription options. You can see them here. We also accept donations. You can donate here. A donation of $50 or more will make you eligible for a subscription. Thank you for reading Oak Ridge Today. We appreciate your support!
The Oak Ridge Police Department and several area agencies are searching for a missing Oak Ridge man near Melton Hill Lake.
Arthur Lee, 59, was last seen Sunday and may have been in the area of Melton Lake Drive and Melton Lake Peninsula, a press release said.
ORPD, the Knox County Sheriff’s Office, and the Blount County Sheriff’s Office began searching for Lee around 11 a.m. Tuesday, the press release said. The Oak Ridge Fire Department help search with its boat on Melton Hill Lake.
The Oak Ridge Police Department currently has two funds for Baby Wyatt, the unidentified newborn boy found dead in Melton Hill Lake almost two years ago.
The two funds are a memorial fund ($950) and a reward fund ($1,000).
Separate from those two funds, the ORPD has received a $5,246 grant for genetic testing to identify Baby Wyatt. That money will be used specifically for the Baby Wyatt investigation, and any funds left from that grant will be returned to the grant provider, Season of Justice, of Indianapolis, Indiana, the City of Oak Ridge said Monday.
The Oak Ridge Police Department has received a $5,246 grant for genetic testing to identify Baby Wyatt Doe, the newborn boy found dead in Melton Hill Lake almost two years ago.
The grant is from a nonprofit organization, Season of Justice, of Indianapolis, Indiana. The Oak Ridge City Council could accept the grant for the ORPD during a meeting on Monday.
Wyatt’s body was found near the bank along Melton Lake Greenway, which is along the Clinch River, just north of the Edgemoor Road bridge on Thursday, March 26, 2020.
Oak Ridge Police Chief Robin Smith said that year that the baby boy was being called Wyatt, or “little warrior.”
In 2020, Oak Ridge Today reported that DNA samples had been taken by the medical examiner. Baby Wyatt’s race had not been determined. Police officers were not able to tell from his physical appearance. His umbilical cord was still attached before he was placed in the water, Smith said in a Facebook video. A piece of clothing was with Wyatt, although it hasn’t been described for investigative reasons.
The Oak Ridge Police Department has charged three students with terrorism and threats of mass violence after they allegedly made school shooting threats in two separate incidents on social media on Monday and Tuesday.
The charges were filed in Anderson County Juvenile Court on Wednesday afternoon, and the court authorized the detention of the children in the Richard L. Bean Detention Facility in Knox County. The children were taken into custody Wednesday afternoon, Seventh Judicial District Attorney General Dave Clark said.
All three juveniles were charged with terrorism, threat of mass violence on school property, and false report. Two of the children were allegedly involved in a shooting threat posted on Snapchat on Monday, and they were also charged with conspiracy. That threat led to a lockdown at Oak Ridge High School on Monday. The third child was allegedly involved in a separate shooting threat that was posted on Snapchat on Tuesday, and that student will face the first three charges.
Clark said the children are required to have a detention hearing quickly under Tennessee law, and that hearing could occur as soon as Thursday afternoon in Anderson County Juvenile Court.
The Oak Ridge Police Department identified two juveniles Tuesday in connection to the shooting threat posted on social media that prompted a lockdown at Oak Ridge High School on Monday.
“Both juveniles admitted to making the threat,” the City of Oak Ridge said in a press release. “Throughout the course of the investigation, it has been determined that no weapon was ever involved. Charges are forthcoming.”
The press release did not identify the juveniles or the specific threat. On Monday, the city said it was a shooting threat.
The Oak Ridge Police Department will have an increased presence at Oak Ridge High School on Tuesday following a lockdown on Monday, Oak Ridge Schools said.
The lockdown came after a shooting threat on social media that school administrators learned about on Monday.
“After learning of this threat, we immediately placed ORHS on a Level 3 lockdown and contacted the Oak Ridge Police Department,” Oak Ridge Schools told families Monday evening. “The ORPD will ‘continue to investigate and keep students safe’ during this situation. As the City of Oak Ridge press release stated, we too ‘appreciate the seamless coordination and efforts between the school system, city, and ORPD as this investigation continues.'”
The Oak Ridge Police Department is still investigating a shooting threat that was made on social media and led to an hours-long lockdown at Oak Ridge High School starting Monday morning.
Monday afternoon, the City of Oak Ridge said students will be released from school at their normal times, and the Oak Ridge Police Department is taking precautions to continue to investigate and keep students safe during dismissal.
“We appreciate the seamless coordination and efforts between the school system, city, and ORPD as this investigation continues,” the city said.
The lockdown was reported at about 11 a.m. Monday after administrators said they were made aware of a shooting threat posted on social media.