Oak Ridge Today

Charges pending against ORHS student who assaulted officer, police say

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Charges are pending against an Oak Ridge High School student accused of assaulting an officer and classmate on Monday, authorities said.

An Oak Ridge Police Department press release said School Resource Officer Michael Swigert saw the 17-year-old male involved in a disturbance with a high school staff member at about 2:13 p.m. Monday. The staff member said the unruly boy had just assaulted a 17-year-old female classmate, the release said.

“Officer Swigert attempted to contact the student, who refused to comply with the officer’s commands and continued to create a disturbance, yelling, slamming doors, and knocking over a floor sign,” the press release said. “When Officer Swigert ordered the student to cease his actions, the student again refused to comply and assaulted the officer.” [Read more…]

Clarksville woman taken to UT hospital after driver falls asleep, car rolls

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A Clarksville woman was taken by ambulance to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville early Sunday after the driver of a car in which she was riding fell asleep, and the vehicle rolled, went airborne, and struck a series of objects on South Illinois Avenue in Oak Ridge, including a tree and utility pole, authorities said.

The 2011 Toyota Camry four-door sedan was headed north in the right-hand lane of South Illinois Avenue at about 3:30 a.m. Sunday when it first struck a right-hand curb at Centrifuge Way, the former Boeing Road, an Oak Ridge Police Department crash report said. The car then entered a median, rolled over onto its passenger side, struck a utility pole and an embankment, and became airborne, the report said. The vehicle then struck a second curb, became airborne again, struck a tree and embankment at the same time, and came to rest at the bottom of a second embankment. [Read more…]

Get rid of your unused medicines on Saturday morning

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You can get rid of your unused medicines in a Saturday morning drop-off at the Oak Ridge Police Department.

Operation Medicine Cabinet is scheduled from 9 a.m. to noon at the Oak Ridge Police Department at the Municipal Building at 200 S. Tulane Ave.

“Come and drop off your old and expired drugs,” organizers said. “No names given.”

It’s being promoted by the ORPD and Allies for Substance Abuse Prevention of Anderson County, or ASAP. For more information, call ORPD Officer Brandan Sharp at (865) 556-6696 or visit www.asapofanderson.org.

New ORPD hardware, software package to allow officers to issue electronic citations

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Oak Ridge Police Department and Spillman Technologies

Oak Ridge Police Chief Jim Akagi, left, explains a new hardware and software suite that the City Council agreed to buy for the police department on Monday.

Note: This story was updated at 5:30 p.m.

A new roughly $500,000 hardware and software suite purchased for the Oak Ridge Police Department includes an electronic citation system that will allow officers to scan driver’s licenses with handheld units and quickly issue multiple citations.

The new system will save time because it will, among other things, automatically download information from the electronic tickets, including into the court system, officials said.

“It’s a lot quicker, a lot more effective,” Oak Ridge Police Chief Jim Akagi said during a January work session with the City Council.

Officials said the ability to issue tickets quicker could produce more revenue for the city and more effective law enforcement. They said it will also eliminate some problems with the current system, such as messy handwriting on paper tickets and the need to duplicate data entry in the police department and then again in the court system. [Read more…]

Police ID driver who died in Sunday morning crash

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Hillside Road Fatal Crash

The Oak Ridge Police Department has identified the driver who died in a crash early Sunday morning after hitting a utility pole on Hillside Road near the intersection with Pennsylvania Avenue.

The Oak Ridge Police Department has identified the driver who died in a crash on Hillside Road early Sunday morning.

The driver was Hobert L. Mitchell, 32, of Oak Ridge, the ORPD said in a press release.

Mitchell was driving a white 2003 Nissan Murano registered to Jordan Jones, also of Oak Ridge, the release said.

Mitchell’s body was taken to the University of Tennessee Medical Center, where an autopsy was to be performed, and the investigation of this incident remains ongoing, the ORPD said. [Read more…]

ORHS staff seizes electronic stun device from 15-year-old student

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Oak Ridge High School

Oak Ridge High School is pictured above.

Note: This story was updated at 8:18 p.m. to correct the age of the student.

Oak Ridge High School staff members seized an electronic stun device from an 15-year-old student in the cafeteria on Tuesday, authorities said.

The ORHS staff notified the Oak Ridge Police Department, which responded, took possession of the device, and interviewed the suspect, a press release said. The student was later released to a guardian.

The student did not threaten anyone with the device, and no injuries were reported, the release said. ORPD is investigating the incident, and charges are pending for the possession of a prohibited weapon on school grounds.

The incident occurred at lunchtime Tuesday.

More information will be added as it becomes available.

Driver who died in Thursday crash was EMT, volunteer firefighter

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Colton Alexander Stout

Colton Alexander Stout

Note: This story was last updated at 8:55 p.m.

Police have identified the driver who died in a Thursday morning crash on Lafayette Drive in Oak Ridge.

Colton Alexander Stout, 20, of Oak Ridge, died after his 1994 Toyota 4Runner left the four-lane divided roadway and crashed into a tree in the median, an Oak Ridge Police Department report said.

The crash occurred at about 9:21 a.m. Thursday just north of Midland Road. That’s between Emory Valley Road and South Illinois Avenue on Lafeyette Drive.

The front end of Stout’s vehicle hit the tree and the 4Runner then rolled onto its right side. Stout was taken by ambulance to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville, but he died enroute, ORPD Officer Nathan Stinnett said in the report. [Read more…]

Seattle man arrested during Y-12 protest crossed blue trespass line, police say

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Christopher Ryan Spicer Arrest at Y-12

Christopher Ryan Spicer of Seattle was arrested and charged with criminal trespass at the main entrance to the Y-12 National Security Complex on Sunday. (Photo courtesy Ralph Hutchison)

The Seattle man who was arrested and charged with criminal trespassing at the Y-12 National Security Complex on Sunday had repeatedly failed to comply with police commands, and he crossed a blue trespass line at the main entrance to the nuclear weapons plant, authorities said.

Christopher Ryan Spicer, 31, was participating in a weekly protest at Y-12 at about 6 p.m. Sunday at the intersection of Bear Creek and Scarboro roads. This protest was significant because it occurred less than two days before the scheduled sentencing of the three protesters who broke into Y-12 in July 2012 and spray-painted slogans and splashed blood on a uranium storage building.

Dozens of people came to Knoxville from across the country for the Tuesday sentencing of the three: Greg Boertje-Obed, Megan Rice, and Michael Walli. However, it was postponed to Feb. 18 because of snow.

Christopher Ryan Spicer

Christopher Ryan Spicer

Oak Ridge Police Department Officer James Elkins said Spicer was among the protesters on Sunday evening before he crossed a street and walked toward the Y-12 guard shack. Spicer repeatedly failed to comply with orders given by him and ORPD Sgt. Roy Heinz, Elkins said in a warrant filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court. The officers told Spicer to stop as he approached the blue trespass line at the federal site, Elkins said. [Read more…]

Driver dies after vehicle crashes into tree on Lafayette Drive

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Lafayette Drive Fatal Crash into Tree

A southbound Toyota 4Runner crashed into a tree in the median of Lafayette Drive Thursday morning, and the driver died on the way to a Knoxville hospital. Above, workers remove the tree from the road after the driver was taken to the University of Tennessee Medical Center.

The driver of a Toyota 4Runner died on the way to a Knoxville hospital Thursday morning after crashing into a tree on Lafayette Drive in Oak Ridge, authorities said.

The single-vehicle crash occurred at about 9:22 a.m. Thursday on Lafayette Drive between Hendrix Drive and South Illinois Avenue, the Oak Ridge Police Department said. The red sports utility vehicle was driving south when it left the roadway and struck a tree in the median between the southbound and northbound lanes.

“The driver was removed from the vehicle and was unresponsive when police and rescue arrived,” the ORPD said. “The driver of the vehicle expired while being transported to University of Tennessee Hospital. No further information will be released pending notification of family members, and the investigation remains ongoing.” [Read more…]

Knoxville man dies in crash on Bethel Valley Road

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A Knoxville man died in a Wednesday night crash on Bethel Valley Road east of Spallation Drive at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, authorities said.

John Kirkpatrick was driving eastbound in a 2001 Honda CRV when it apparently went off the south side of Bethel Valley Road and hit a tree, the Oak Ridge Police Department said after an initial investigation. Kirkpatrick was the vehicle’s only occupant, and he was found dead at the scene, a press release said. [Read more…]

JMS briefly locked down as police search area for person with handgun

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Jefferson Middle School

Jefferson Middle School

Jefferson Middle School was briefly locked down early Thursday afternoon as police searched for a person armed with a handgun at a nearby business.

The Oak Ridge Police Department began searching for the person at about 12:30 p.m. Thursday after receiving information that the individual, who is not identified in a press release, had just left the Clinton area and might be on the way to the west end of Oak Ridge.

“Oak Ridge police personnel from the Patrol, Criminal Investigations, and Administration divisions immediately deployed throughout the city to locate the individual, and at approximately 12:52 p.m., information was received that the individual may have been in a vehicle in the Home Depot parking lot in Oak Ridge,” an ORPD press release said. “Oak Ridge police unmarked units identified a vehicle matching the description of the individual’s vehicle in the parking lot and requested the Jefferson Middle School initiate a lockdown, as it was nearby. [Read more…]

New SRO approved at Oak Ridge Schools, could start Monday

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Oak Ridge City Council

The Oak Ridge City Council voted 5-1 on Monday to approve a move that allows another school resource officer, or SRO, to be added to Oak Ridge Schools.

Note: This story was updated at 9:45 a.m. Jan. 14.

The Oak Ridge City Council approved a move on Monday that will add a second school resource officer in the city’s schools, and the new SRO could start Monday.

The new SRO is Oak Ridge Police Department Officer Michael Swigert. The current SRO is Officer Sherrill Selby.

It’s not as big a step as some officials had proposed during the past few years. There have been various proposals to have a total of three SROs, including one at each of the city’s two middle schools, or even more, perhaps one SRO at each school. The discussions seemed to gain urgency after the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., in December 2012, but funding has been an obstacle. [Read more…]