Oak Ridge Today

For members: Mason indicted on attempted murder, assault charges

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Charles Mason Preliminary Hearing July 25 2019

An Anderson County man with two homicide convictions and a 28-year prison sentence for federal drug and gun convictions has been charged with attempted murder and aggravated assault, among other charges, after he allegedly tried to shoot a deputy in April 2019.

Charles Edward Mason, 53, was indicted on the one count of attempted first-degree murder, five counts of aggravated assault, and other charges in November. The other charges are two counts of interfering with a 911 call and one count of resisting arrest. Mason pleaded not guilty during an arraignment in Anderson County Circuit Court in Clinton on Thursday.

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Charles Mason Preliminary Hearing July 25 2019
Charles Edward Mason, 53, has been indicted by the Anderson County Grand Jury on one count of attempted first-degree murder and five counts of aggravated assault, among other charges. He pleaded not guilty in Anderson County Circuit Court on Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021. Mason is pictured above during a preliminary hearing in July 2019. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Note: This story was last updated at 12:25 p.m. Feb. 2.

An Anderson County man with two homicide convictions and a 28-year prison sentence for federal drug and gun convictions has been charged with attempted murder and aggravated assault, among other charges, after he allegedly tried to shoot a deputy in April 2019.

Charles Mason Preliminary Hearing July 25 2019

An Anderson County man with two homicide convictions and a 28-year prison sentence for federal drug and gun convictions has been charged with attempted murder and aggravated assault, among other charges, after he allegedly tried to shoot a deputy in April 2019.

Charles Edward Mason, 53, was indicted on the one count of attempted first-degree murder, five counts of aggravated assault, and other charges in November. The other charges are two counts of interfering with a 911 call and one count of resisting arrest. Mason pleaded not guilty during an arraignment in Anderson County Circuit Court in Clinton on Thursday.

The rest of this story is available if you are a member: a subscriber, advertiser, or contributor to Oak Ridge Today.

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Oak Ridge Today
P.O. Box 6064
Oak Ridge, TN 37831

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Man allegedly held woman hostage with hammer

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Rickey Moore
Rickey Moore

A 44-year-old man allegedly held a woman hostage with a hammer and reportedly charged at fugitive recovery agents in Powell on Wednesday, the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office said.

There were two Anderson County warrants for Rickey Moore, including a failure to appear, and bail bondsman fugitive recovery agents reported he was holding a woman hostage with a hammer inside a home on Bison Court at about 3:42 p.m. Wednesday, the Sheriff’s Office said.

Moore refused to surrender to the bail agents and reportedly charged at them with a hammer, the Sheriff’s Office said.

“That is when the agents called our office,” said Tyler Mayes, director of administrative services for the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office.

[Read more…]

(For members) Five ORPD officers injured in fight with defendant

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Oak Ridge Police Department Badge

Five Oak Ridge Police Department officers were injured in a fight with a defendant on Saturday, a man was held against his will by the defendant, and officers used a Taser on the defendant more than once, police said.

Oak Ridge Police Department Badge

Five Oak Ridge Police Department officers were injured in a fight with a defendant on Saturday, a man was held against his will by the defendant, and officers used a Taser on the defendant more than once, police said.

The 39-year-old defendant is now charged with five counts of aggravated assault on an officer and aggravated kidnapping, among other charges.

It’s not the first time the man has been accused of assaulting a police officer. In September, he pleaded guilty to assaulting a police officer in a previous case.

The rest of this story, which required additional research, is available if you are a member: a subscriber, advertiser, or recent contributor to Oak Ridge Today. 

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Warrants: Anderson County man allegedly carjacked two vehicles in Clinton, tried to steal third

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Justin Wade Welch

Justin Wade Welch

 

An Anderson County man is facing 13 charges that include carjacking and robbery after allegedly taking two cars by force and trying to take another in Clinton on Thursday, and then fleeing from officers and resisting arrest, according to arrest warrants.

Justin Wade Welch, 30, remained jailed in the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton on Tuesday morning. His bond has been set at $500,000.

Welch has been charged with two counts of carjacking and one count of attempted carjacking. He’s also been charged with three counts of robbery and two counts of attempted robbery.

The Clinton Police Department also charged him with two counts of vehicular assault.

And the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department charged him with evading arrest, resisting arrest, and driving on a suspended license.

Arrest warrants filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Clinton said Welch allegedly carjacked one vehicle at Clinton Towers on North Charles G. Seivers Boulevard in downtown Clinton, tried to carjack a second vehicle several blocks south at Food City on South Charles G. Seivers Boulevard, and carjacked a third vehicle on Highland Drive next to Food City. [Read more…]

Norris man allegedly fights officers, grabs lieutenant’s gun; now faces charges

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Donald-Berry

Donald Berry

NORRIS—A Norris man who allegedly fought public safety officers, resisted arrest, and tried to grab a lieutenant’s gun from its holster on Thursday is facing charges of aggravated assault and resisting arrest, authorities said.

Donald Howard Berry Jr., 25, has been charged with two counts of aggravated assault and two count of resisting arrest, according to court records.

The Norris Department of Public Safety responded to a reported disturbance on Oak Road on Thursday afternoon. Berry’s stepsister told police that he was upstairs in a bedroom behaving erratically and possibly trying to harm himself, arrest warrants said.

Norris Officer Rick Roach and Lieutenant Carl White entered the home and made contact with Berry, the warrants said. But after the bedroom door was opened, Berry charged White and grabbed him around the waist, according to the warrants.

Roach tried to restrain Berry, but he resisted the officer and the lieutenant, the warrants said. [Read more…]

ORPD arrests home intruder

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Thurman B. Bates

Thurman B. Bates

The Oak Ridge Police Department on Tuesday arrested a man who entered the home of his ex-girlfriend without permission and threatened to assault her, authorities said.

Officers responded to the home on Inn Lane at about 11:25 p.m. Tuesday. The man who allegedly entered without permission was later identified as Thurman Bates, 36, of Oak Ridge, a press release said.

Officers said the victim managed to escape the residence by crawling out a window and fleeing to a neighbor’s home to call the police. When they arrived, officers entered the victim’s residence in search of Bates, who had barricaded himself behind the door in the residence, the release said. Officers forced entry into the room and found Bates hiding in a closet.

The release said Bates was taken into custody with the assistance of a police canine after he briefly resisted arrest. Bates was arrested and transported to the Anderson County Detention Facility, where he was charged with aggravated burglary, domestic assault, and resisting arrest.

Five arrested after shots fired into Claxton home, marijuana found

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Kevin Scott Garner

Kevin Scott Garner

Five people were arrested early Sunday morning after deputies responded to a report of shots fired into an occupied home in Claxton, authorities said. They said deputies were helped by a series of anonymous 911 calls from a Powell man who was found with the Knoxville man alleged to have been the shooter.

Anderson County Sheriff Paul White said dispatchers began receiving anonymous 911 calls from a cell phone around 5 a.m. Sunday, reporting a shooting into a residence at 120 East Circle. However, the calls were not coming from the actual residence. Some 30 calls were made over the next several minutes, White said.

Deputies responded to the East Circle home and, when they arrived, spoke with a person on the front porch who initially gave a false name and false information about what happened. Another person was found hiding in the back yard. A third person was inside the residence.

Bullet holes were found in the front of the house. No one was injured. [Read more…]

Police arrest driver who resisted officer, hit steel post at Rocky Top

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Rocky Top Steel Pole Damage

Police have arrested the Knoxville man who resisted an officer at a Rocky Top convenience store early Tuesday morning before hitting this steel pole in the gas station’s parking lot.

 

Knox County and Oak Ridge officers have arrested the Knoxville man who resisted an officer before he accelerated toward a Rocky Top store and hit a steel pole in the gas station’s parking lot early Tuesday morning, authorities said.

Sherrius Smith, 20, was arrested at an apartment on West Vista Ridge Way in Knoxville at about 11:10 a.m. Tuesday by members of the Knox County Sheriff’s Office Warrant Division and Oak Ridge Police Department Special Projects Unit, the ORPD said in a press release. He was transferred to the ORPD, which is taking him to the Anderson County Detention Center in Clinton, where he will face the following charges, a press release said:

  • two counts of aggravated assault,
  • possession of schedule VI controlled substances for resale, [Read more…]

Charges pending against juvenile who attacked several officers, police say

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Oak Ridge High School

Oak Ridge High School is pictured above.

Charges are pending against a 17-year-old male student who allegedly created a violent disturbance in an Oak Ridge High School classroom on Thursday morning, fled the campus, and then attacked several officers trying to make contact with him in a parking lot across the street, authorities said.

The high school staff reported the classroom disturbance to Oak Ridge Police Department school resource officers at about 8:01 a.m. Thursday, a press release said. The student was located in a parking lot across the street from the high school. [Read more…]

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…]

Intoxicated, wearing only a shirt, woman tries to bite officer, police say

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Crystal Jane Wombles

Crystal Jane Wombles

She was extremely intoxicated and was outside on her porch wearing only a shirt when Oliver Springs police arrived, and neighbors said she had been completely naked a few minutes earlier, authorities said.

Crystal J. Wombles, 35, of Crystal Lane in Oliver Springs, was not wearing “bottoms or underwear…showing her bottom private parts to children and the neighbors,” Oliver Springs Police Department Patrolman Nathaniel W. Nelson said in an incident report. The neighbors had instructed their kids to go inside, the patrolman said. [Read more…]

Three arrested, crowd pepper-sprayed during arrests at fireworks show

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Information from WYSH Radio

Three people were arrested Saturday night during the “Fire on the Water” fireworks show at Sequoyah Marina on Norris Lake after a disturbance that ended with an Anderson County Sheriff’s Department deputy deploying pepper spray on an allegedly angry crowd of onlookers.

The incident began at around 9:30 p.m. Saturday when a homeowner on Sequoyah Drive approached three deputies assigned to a special detail to monitor the festivities and told them that he was having a private engagement party on his property. He told the deputies that two men and a woman had come onto the property from the public area roped off for fireworks viewing, taken beer, threatened party guests, and refused to leave. [Read more…]