Oak Ridge Today

Anderson County Sheriff’s Department K-9s help with Gatlinburg search

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Anderson County Sheriff’s Department K-9s helped search Gatlinburg after forest fires fed by hurricane-force winds raged through that tourist town and areas around the Chimney Tops trail in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Wears Valley, and Pigeon Forge on Monday, Nov. 28, 2016, burning 17,000 acres, killing 14 people, and damaging or destroying more than 1,700 structures. Pictured above is Deputy Candy Stooksbury and her K-9 partner Barnabas. (Photo by ACSD)

 

Anderson County Sheriff’s Department Deputy Candy Stooksbury and her K-9 partner Barnabas, a specially trained bloodhound, have helped in the search efforts in Gatlinburg after forest fires fed by hurricane-force winds raged through the tourist town last week. Corporal Rick Coley and K-9 Justus, and Deputy Matt Forsyth and K-9 BamBam, have also helped.

The deputies and K-9s helped the Knoxville Police Search And Rescue Team and the Tennessee Highway Patrol in the search, rescue, and recovery mission, Anderson County Sheriff’s Department Chief Deputy Mark Lucas said Tuesday.

Other local agencies also responded to the fires, including Anderson County EMS and fire departments in Anderson County. (See this previous story for more information.) The Oak Ridge Fire Department helped rescue 12 people trapped in cars surrounded by fires near the Dollywood theme park near Pigeon Forge. [Read more…]

Anderson County Sheriff’s Department joins U.S. Marshals’ Smoky Mountains Fugitive Task Force

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Six deputies from the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department have been sworn as special deputy U.S. marshals and form an Aggressive Criminal Enforcement (ACE) Unit. The ACE Unit is made up of Sergeant Wally Braden, Corporal Rick Coley, and deputies Charles Relford, Jason Leach, Shawn Williams, and Matt Forsyth. They will work part-time as needed with the Smoky Mountains Fugitive Task Force and the U.S. Marshals Service. Also pictured above at left is Chief Deputy Mark Lucas. (Photo courtesy Anderson County Sheriff’s Department)

 

Six officers from the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department have been sworn in as task force officers with the United States Marshals Service’s Smoky Mountains Fugitive Task Force, or SMFTF.

The Anderson County Sheriff’s Department is the latest local law enforcement agency to become part of the specialized fugitive apprehension team, which is made up of the East Tennessee agencies listed at the end of this press release.

Task force officers are state and local police officers who receive special deputations with the Marshals Service, the press release said. While assigned to the SMFTF, these officers can exercise U.S. Marshals’ authorities, such as crossing jurisdictional lines.

Jimmy Fowler, U.S. marshal for the Eastern District of Tennessee, administered the oath of office to the deputies at the Marshals Service office in Knoxville.

“We are very excited about our new partnership with the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department,” Fowler said in the press release. “Our communities are safer when local, state, and federal officers get to work together, and that is what the Smoky Mountains Fugitive Task Force is all about. The Task Force is made up of great officers from throughout East Tennessee. From Chattanooga to Bristol, these officers work together to ensure the safety of everyone by apprehending dangerous fugitives and reducing violent crime.” [Read more…]

Father allegedly flees crash where injured son is trapped, then flees hospital nude, THP says

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Jacob Daniel Baxter

Jacob Daniel Baxter

 

An Anderson County man allegedly fled a crash where his juvenile son, who was partially ejected and injured, was trapped between a van and a barn, and the man later fled from a hospital nude, authorities said.

The crash was reported at about 11:29 p.m. Saturday, September 3, on Old Lake City Highway.

The Tennessee Highway Patrol said Jacob Daniel Baxter, 33, of Black Oak Road in Anderson County, was driving west in a white 1999 Dodge Caravan on Old Lake City Highway when he lost control while going round a curve. The van went off the right side of the road and stopped at a metal barn on the side of the road, according to the THP.

A 15-year-old boy, who is identified as Baxter’s son, was trapped between the van and the barn, according to arrest warrants filed by the THP in Anderson County General Sessions Court, Division I, in Clinton.

While Anderson County Rescue Squad personnel were helping to remove the trapped boy, Tennessee Highway Patrol Trooper Isaiah Lloyd began searching for the driver. [Read more…]

Warrants: Woman admits residents made meth in Tusculum Drive apartment

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Kimberly Hughes Welch

Kimberly Hughes Welch

An Oak Ridge woman who lives at an apartment raided by police on Wednesday admitted that she and a man who also lives at the home were using methamphetamine laboratory components, including chemicals and pseudoephedrine powder, to make meth there, authorities said.

Besides the chemicals and pseudoephedrine, officers also found gas generators, hoses, and what they described as bi-layer liquids, according to arrest warrants. Police described those items as meth lab components. They were allegedly found inside Apartment C at 197 Tusculum Drive during a Wednesday evening search, according to the warrants, which were filed by Simon Byrne of the Seventh District Crime Task Force.

Raynell Fountaine Hopson

Raynell Fountaine Hopson

After she was read her Miranda rights, apartment resident Kimberly Welch, 48, told police that she and Raynell Hopson, 47, who also lives in the apartment, were using the equipment to make meth, Byrne said.

Welch and Hopson have each been charged with the initiation of meth manufacturing, possession of drug paraphernalia, and the manufacture/delivery/sale of Schedule II drugs.

The alleged meth lab was within 1,000 feet of La Petite Academy on Tulsa Road, a drug-free school zone, so there could be a school zone enhancement to the charges, which would be applied at sentencing if Welch or Hopson are convicted, said Russell Barker, director of the Seventh District Crime Task Force. [Read more…]

Parking lot sweeps at ORHS designed to ensure safe, healthy campus, principal says

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Anderson County Sheriff’s Department Deputy Rick Coley and his police dog Justus help conduct a safety check at Oak Ridge High School on Friday, Nov. 20, 2015. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The random parking lot sweeps conducted several times per year at Oak Ridge High School with officers and police dogs are meant to help ensure a safe, healthy campus, an official during one sweep Friday.

The school conducted the Friday sweep with help from the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department and Oak Ridge Police Department and several canine officers.

Officials said it was a successful operation, although they declined to give specific information, including because the searches involve juveniles.

It was the first parking lot sweep since new ORHS Principal Martin McDonald replaced David Bryant, who retired this summer. [Read more…]

Report: Clinton police seize SUV, arrest four after meth residue found

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Clinton police seized a Chevrolet Tahoe and arrested four people Thursday morning after authorities and a police dog allegedly found a coffee filter with drug residue that tested positive for methamphetamine.

Inside the Tahoe, authorities also allegedly found several syringes, lithium batteries, and razor blades, a Clinton Police Department report said. Clinton Police Officer Bradley Kidwell said the search also found a CVS Pharmacy bag that contained new makeup items but no receipt.

[Read more…]