Oak Ridge Today

TBI: Roane officers justified in using deadly force

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Information from WYSH Radio

An investigation by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has concluded that the shooting of an armed burglary suspect in Harriman on Tuesday was justified. Officers shot and killed 28-year-old Miranda Michelle Guy inside her home on Fairchild Street on Tuesday afternoon.

According to a joint press release from District Attorney General Russell Johnson, the Roane County Sheriff’s Office, and the Harriman Police Department, Guy pointed a handgun at the officers and was advancing on one of them when they opened fire. The preliminary autopsy showed that Guy was hit multiple times in her right arm, which was holding the gun, and her front torso.

Officials said that while a Harriman Police Department officer was speaking to witnesses of a burglary at a storage building in South Harriman, a white pickup truck drove by that the witnesses identified as the vehicle that the suspect in the break-in had been driving. The release said the officer could see items in the bed of the truck that matched the description of some of the stolen items. The officer ordered the truck to stop, but the driver, who was identified as Guy, sped up and drove away.

The officer started a pursuit, which was joined by a HPD investigator and two Roane County Sheriff’s Department deputies. The four officers followed Guy to her house, where they saw her run inside. The officers split up, with two going to the back of the house while the other two followed Guy inside through the front door. [Read more…]

Firehouse Subs Foundation donates equipment to ORFD, Roane County

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Firehouse Subs and Oak Ridge Fire Department Thermal Imaging Camera

Above, representatives of Firehouse Subs present a $10,000 thermal imaging camera to the Oak Ridge Fire Department in January. (Photo courtesy Oak Ridge Fire Department)

Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation recently donated a thermal imaging camera worth more than $10,000 to Oak Ridge Fire Department.

The foundation also donated first-aid kits and six automated external defibrillators, worth a total of more than $10,200, to Roane County Sheriff’s Office.

The equipment was presented in ceremonies at Firehouse Subs in Oak Ridge and Lenoir City.

The thermal imaging camera donated to ORFD will detect body heat and hot spots in burning buildings, allowing firefighters to reach victims quickly and put out deadly fires. [Read more…]

Firehouse Subs donates equipment to Oak Ridge Fire Department, Roane County sheriff

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation is donating  $20,000 worth of much-needed equipment to the Oak Ridge Fire Department and Roane County Sheriff’s Office, a press release said.

Events are planned in Oak Ridge on Wednesday and Lenoir City on Thursday to celebrate the donations of the life-saving tools, the release said.

The ORFD is receiving a thermal imaging camera, worth more than $10,000.

“The donated camera will detect body heat and hot spots in burning buildings, allowing firefighters to reach victims quickly and put out deadly fires,” the release said. [Read more…]

Follow-up: Roane shooting victim had been drinking, getting high

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Information from WYSH Radio

Following up on a story reported Monday, a 44-year-old Roane County man who accidentally shot himself in the chest with a .22-caliber rifle on Sunday was treated for his injuries and released from the University of Tennesseee Medical Center that same night.

Steve Brooks was flown to UTMC after the incident on Edwards Lane, just south of Rockwood. The Roane County Sheriff’s Office said that he told emergency personnel that he had been drinking before the incident and admitted to having smoked crack cocaine, an admission verified by his live-in girlfriend and her adult son. [Read more…]

Arrests made in aggravated burglary involving 11 guns

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

John Edward Farmer

John Edward Farmer

Eric Keith Lane

Eric Keith Lane

Eleven rifles and shotguns were reported missing after an aggravated burglary in Roane County last month, and authorities investigating the case arrested two men on Monday, a press release said.

The alleged burglary occurred Sept. 19 on Collins Road, which is north of Oak Ridge near the intersection of Blair Road and Old Harriman Highway.

The press release said Roane County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Kate Bell and Sgt. Richie Stooksbury were searching for John Farmer in connection with the alleged burglary on Monday when Bell found the vehicle matching the description of the Collins Road incident, Sheriff Jack Stockton said in the release. [Read more…]

Roane authorities arrest two after armed robbery investigation

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Mark Andrew Randolph

Mark Andrew Randolph

Rufena Jean Bunch

Rufena Jean Bunch

Roane County authorities investigating an armed robbery at a gas station on Highway 70 on Friday arrested a Harriman man and Kingston woman on Monday, Sheriff Jack Stockton said.

The alleged robbery occurred at a Rocky Top Market on Bluff Road at Highway 70 at closing time Friday. A white man wearing camouflage clothing entered the store, pointed a handgun at the clerks, and demanded money, Stockton said in a press release. The suspect allegedly left the store with an undetermined amount of money.

On Monday, Roane County Sheriff’s Office deputies, with help from detectives Bryan Walker and Brandon Kittrell, arrested the two suspects without incident, the release said. The Crossville and Kingston police departments also helped. [Read more…]

Roane County Jail in danger of decertification

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Information from WYSH Radio

The Roane County Jail is in danger of being decertified due to overcrowding issues.

During an inspection in May, state jail inspectors warned the Roane County Sheriff’s Office that they could face decertification if the overcrowding problem was not addressed, and during a follow-up visit last week, inspectors found the same problems still lingering. [Read more…]

Roane County man accused of shooting stepson in leg during dispute

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

John Wayne Williams

John Wayne Williams

A Roane County man is accused of shooting his stepson in the leg with a shotgun during a family dispute Thursday night, the Roane County Sheriff’s Office said.

The shooting occurred at about 8:45 p.m. Thursday at 178 Maddox Hollow Road, which is south of Kingston between Watts Bar Lake and Interstate 75. [Read more…]

State releases information on weekend crashes that ended high-speed chase

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

The Tennessee Highway Patrol has released information on the Saturday night crashes in Oak Ridge that ended a high-speed chase, caused one vehicle to overturn, and sent two people to a hospital.

The chase started in Kingston late Saturday night after the suspect, Austin Cody Burns, 21, of Tellico Plains, nearly collided head-on with a vehicle driven by a deputy, the Roane County Sheriff’s Office reported. Burns allegedly fled from Roane County and Kingston Police Department officers at speeds that exceeded 90 mph. [Read more…]

Man allegedly flees from Kingston to Oak Ridge, tries to run officers off road, crashes into cars

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Note: This story was last updated at 1:28 p.m. June 18.

KINGSTON—A Tellico Plains man driving a Ford pickup truck allegedly almost had a head-on collision with a Roane County deputy in Kingston on Saturday night, fled from officers at speeds over 90 mph, aggressively drove toward patrol cars trying to box him in on Gallaher Road, and crashed into several vehicles in Oak Ridge, causing significant injuries to passengers in one vehicle, authorities said.

The suspect has been identified as Austin Cody Burns, 21, the Roane County Sheriff’s Office said. An incident report said Burns’ ex-girlfriend had broken up with him earlier in the day, and he allegedly stole her pickup truck. [Read more…]

Father shoots son after Sunday dispute in Roane County

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Note: This story was last updated at 5:59 p.m.

A Roane County man apparently acted in self-defense when he fatally shot his son once after a dispute on Sunday afternoon at a home on Old Harriman Highway, north of Oak Ridge and west of Oliver Springs, authorities said.

Michael Brown, 36, was dead when deputies arrived at about 4:16 p.m. Sunday, the Roane County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement posted on its website.

[Read more…]