ORPD Archives - Oak Ridge Today

Exclusive: Two plead guilty in robbery that ends with shooting

Posted at 2:38 pm July 11, 2018
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

The Oak Ridge Police Department investigates a shooting on East Holston Lane at about 1 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

CLINTON—An Oak Ridge man and woman pleaded guilty on Monday to their roles in a robbery that started as a drug deal set up through social media and ended with a shooting that injured one person.

The plea agreements for the two defendants, Nicole Marie Brewer, 21, and Nicholas Rashad Strickland, 27, were entered in Anderson County Criminal Court in Clinton on Monday. The robbery and shooting were reported on East Holston Lane in Oak Ridge on Tuesday, November 15, 2016.

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ORPD: Man forces woman from wheelchair & vehicle in reported carjacking

Posted at 2:48 pm June 24, 2018
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

A woman was forced from her wheelchair and vehicle during a carjacking reported in Oak Ridge on Saturday, and the suspect crashed after a police chase into Knox County, authorities said.

The carjacking was reported in the parking lot of the Red Lobster restaurant on South Illinois Avenue at about 1:50 p.m. Saturday, the Oak Ridge Police Department said.

“It was reported that a man forcibly took a vehicle that was occupied by an adult female passenger in a wheelchair,” the ORPD said. “After taking the vehicle, the suspect forced the passenger from her wheelchair and from the vehicle in the restaurant parking lot. The victim was not injured.” [Read more…]

Victim identified in fatal crash

Posted at 3:34 pm June 1, 2018
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

One person died in a two-vehicle crash on Melton Lake Drive near the rowing course finish line on Sunday, May 27, 2018. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Authorities have identified the female driver who died in a head-on two-vehicle crash on Melton Lake Drive on Sunday night as Jessica Hotchkiss, 37, of Clinton.

No other details had been released as of Tuesday, and the Oak Ridge Police Department said the investigation was ongoing.

The fatal crash was reported at about 11:23 p.m. Sunday just south of the tower at the Oak Ridge rowing course finish line. It involved a sport utility vehicle and a Comcast utility bucket truck.

The ORPD said then that it appeared the SUV had crossed the center line, striking the Comcast truck head-on. [Read more…]

Charged with attempted murder, woman allegedly conspired to lock, erase cell phone

Posted at 2:05 pm May 24, 2018
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Kali Annabelle Bailey

The Heiskell woman who was charged with attempted murder after she allegedly shot into an occupied vehicle in Oak Ridge on May 6 is now accused of conspiring with her grandmother and one of the victims to lock or erase her cell phone, which is being held in evidence at the Oak Ridge Police Department.

After the shooting, Kali Annabelle Bailey, 20, was charged with two counts of attempted first-degree murder, two counts of aggravated assault, and two counts of reckless endangerment.

New charges related to the alleged attempt to lock or erase her cell phone were filed Monday. The charges are criminal conspiracy to tamper with evidence, attempted tampering with evidence, and solicitation of tampering with evidence. Like the original charges, they are all felony charges.

Bailey’s bond on the original charges had been set at $250,000. Bond on the new charges is $25,000.

Bailey’s alleged co-conspirators, Becky A. Bell of Heiskell and Seth M. Davis of Oak Ridge, have also been charged. Bell is Bailey’s grandmother, and Davis is a victim of the alleged shooting, according to court records. [Read more…]

Warrants: Woman charged with attempted murder had threatened to shoot victim

Posted at 3:16 pm May 8, 2018
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Kali Annabelle Bailey

A Powell woman who has been charged with attempted murder had threatened to shoot a female victim several months before she allegedly shot into a vehicle occupied by two people in Oak Ridge on Sunday night, and the defendant had reportedly tried to argue with the female victim about her relationship with a male victim, authorities said.

A bullet path in the vehicle that was shot into on Sunday night grazed the driver’s seat, very close to the head and shoulder area of the male victim, Seth M. Davis of Oak Ridge, according to affidavits filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court by Oak Ridge Police Department Officer Christopher W. Wallace.

The female victim, Bailee D. Bolden of Oak Ridge, was hit with glass fragments from the windshield, the affidavits said.

Charged in the case is Kali Annabelle Bailey, 20, of Powell. She has been charged with two counts of attempted first-degree murder, two counts of aggravated assault, and two counts of reckless endangerment. Those are all felony charges.

Bailey was located and arrested Monday. Her bond has been set at $320,000, and she remained jailed at the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton on Tuesday afternoon. [Read more…]

Two injured by flying glass in shooting at Manhattan Apartments

Posted at 6:30 pm May 7, 2018
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Two people were injured by flying glass but were not hit by a bullet in a shooting reported at Manhattan Apartments in Woodland on Sunday night, authorities said.

The shooting was reported at about 11:03 p.m. Sunday at the apartments between South Rutgers Avenue and North Purdue Avenue, the Oak Ridge Police Department said. The ORPD had received reports of gunfire in the area.

“Officers determined shots were fired into a vehicle with two people inside,” the ORPD said. “Neither person was struck by a bullet, but both were injured by flying glass debris from the shattered car window. The two victims were treated on the scene by Anderson County EMS.” [Read more…]

Man indicted on robbery, kidnapping, assault charges in Hibachi Burger robbery

Posted at 12:58 pm May 6, 2018
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Dominique Leshawn Gordon

An Oak Ridge man has been indicted on aggravated robbery, aggravated kidnapping, and aggravated assault charges after an alleged robbery at Hibachi Burger in Grove Center in January 2017.

A 19-count indictment was filed against Dominique Leshawn Gordon, 22, by the Anderson County Grand Jury on April 3.

Gordon pleaded not guilty during an arraignment in Anderson County Criminal Court in Clinton on April 30.

His indictment includes one count of aggravated robbery; one count of especially aggravated kidnapping with a weapon when a child, who was then two years old, was involved; eight counts of aggravated kidnapping while committing a felony, confining the victims and interfering with their liberty; and nine counts of aggravated assault while using a gun. [Read more…]

No crime suspected in case of man found dead at park

Posted at 11:01 pm May 2, 2018
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

A crime is not suspected in the case of a man found dead at Clark Center Park in south Oak Ridge on Tuesday, authorities said.

While patrolling the park on Tuesday afternoon, an Oak Ridge Police Department officer found a man sitting motionless in the driver’s seat of a sport utility vehicle, the ORPD said Wednesday. The SUV was parked along the road leading to the main portion of the park.

The officer stopped to investigate and saw the man slumped behind the wheel with an apparent gunshot wound to the head, the ORPD said. The man was pronounced dead at the scene. His body was taken to the Knox County Regional Forensics Center. [Read more…]

Man charged with attempted murder

Posted at 1:08 pm May 1, 2018
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Jeremy Jon Bessette

One Oak Ridge man was beaten in the head with a wrench on Thursday after a social media conversation, and another was charged with attempted murder after an alleged assault on South Walker Lane.

The victim, Andrew Steelman, had been talking to someone on social media that he thought was the girlfriend of Jeremy Jon Bessette, 40, according to affidavits filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge.

But it turned out that Steelman was not talking to Bessette’s girlfriend, but rather to Bessette, who was posing online as his girlfriend while Steelman “flirted with her,” the affidavits said.

The Oak Ridge Police Department first learned of the incident when they were notified of a physical disturbance on South Walker Lane at 1:53 p.m. Thursday. There, a witness said a man, later identified as Bessette, entered the home and began hitting another man in the head with what appeared to be a wrench, according to the affidavits, which were filed by ORPD Officer Perry Lewis.

The alleged assailant then got into a dark-colored Pontiac and fled, the affidavits said. [Read more…]

Three arrested after alleged robbery

Posted at 9:39 pm April 9, 2018
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

The Oak Ridge Police Department arrested three people at Staples on Monday, April 9, 2018, in connection with an alleged robbery at an Oak Ridge residence. (Photo by Oak Ridge Police Department)

The Oak Ridge Police Department arrested three people on Monday, April 9, in connection with an alleged robbery at an Oak Ridge residence, authorities said.

Around 5 p.m., Joshua Young, 37, of Oak Ridge, and Benjamin Davis, 27, of Powell, allegedly forced their way into the home of the victim on East Tennessee Avenue, the ORPD said. The victim said that a friend had sold a game console to Davis and that Davis later returned with Young. The victim told officers that Davis claimed the console he purchased was broken and that the victim needed to return his money or he was taking something of equal value, the ORPD said.

The victim said Young and Davis forced him to sit on the couch while they took a tablet computer and an undetermined amount of cash before leaving his residence, officers said. The victim stated that he observed Young and Davis get into a vehicle driven by a woman who was later identified as Hannah Phillips, 27, of Oliver Springs, the ORPD said. [Read more…]

Officer injured in crash released from hospital

Posted at 2:30 am April 7, 2018
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

An Oak Ridge Police Department officer was injured in a crash and children were taken to the hospital after a fugitive crashed a car as he fled from police on Wednesday, April 5, 2018, authorities said. (Photo by City of Oak Ridge/Oak Ridge Police Department)

The Oak Ridge Police Department officer injured in a crash allegedly caused by a fugitive who was fleeing from police on Wednesday, April 4, 2018, has been released from the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville, a spokesperson said Friday. (Photo by City of Oak Ridge/Oak Ridge Police Department)

Note: This story was last updated at 9:55 a.m.

The officer injured in a crash allegedly caused by a fugitive who was fleeing from police on Wednesday has been released from the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville, a spokesperson confirmed Friday.

Oak Ridge Police Department Officer Nathan Gibson was injured while trying to make a traffic stop and serve a warrant on Khristoff Deshawn Lee, 24, of Oak Ridge, on South Illinois Avenue at about 12:37 p.m. Wednesday, according to affidavits filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge.

Gibson has been discharged, UT Medical Center spokesperson Susan Wyatt said Friday afternoon. No information is available on his present condition.

It’s not clear what charges might have been in the warrant Gibson was trying to serve on Lee on Wednesday, but a writ of criminal capias had been issued for Lee after he failed to appear at a plea agreement hearing on attempted first-degree murder and robbery charges, among other pending charges, in Anderson County Criminal Court in Clinton on August 14. [Read more…]

Officer injured, children taken to hospital after fugitive flees from police

Posted at 5:57 pm April 5, 2018
By John Huotari 2 Comments

An Oak Ridge Police Department officer was injured in a crash and children were taken to the hospital after a fugitive crashed a car as he fled from police on Wednesday, April 4, 2018, authorities said. (Photo by City of Oak Ridge/Oak Ridge Police Department)

An Oak Ridge Police Department officer was injured in a crash and children were taken to the hospital after a fugitive crashed a car as he fled from police on Wednesday, authorities said.

The ORPD learned that a known felony suspect was in the area just before 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, the City of Oak Ridge said in a press release.Shortly after they received the information, officers located the vehicle that they believed contained the fugitive and they attempted to conduct a traffic stop near the intersection of South Illinois Avenue and Woodland Terrace.

But the driver refused to stop, entered the Panera Bread and Aubrey’s Restaurant parking area and proceeded through the lot at an unsafe rate of speed, striking at least one other vehicle, the city said.

The fugitive, Khristoff Lee, was initially a passenger in the vehicle, but he forced the female driver to switch seats with him upon seeing officers, the press release said. [Read more…]