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Regions Bank robbed; ORPD searching for suspect

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Regions Bank in Oak Ridge was robbed on Wednesday, June 19, 2019, and the Oak Ridge Police Department is searching for a suspect.

Regions Bank in Oak Ridge was robbed on Wednesday, and the Oak Ridge Police Department is searching for a suspect.

The bank on Rutgers Avenue was robbed at about 1:34 p.m. Wednesday, the ORPD said. A white man handed a note to a teller stating it was a robbery, police said. The man fled on foot toward Vermont Avenue, according to the ORPD.

The man is described as having a slim build, and he was last seen wearing glasses and a green flannel shirt, blue ball cap (white tag right side), blue jeans, and dark running shoes. There is no vehicle description.

[Read more…]

For members: Man charged with attempted murder of deputy has two homicide convictions

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Charles Edward Mason

CLINTON—The Anderson County man charged with attempted murder after allegedly pointing a gun at a deputy and pulling the trigger twice in April has previously pleaded guilty to homicides in Kentucky and Tennessee.

The first homicide conviction was in Knox County, Kentucky, in 1994. The second was in Anderson County, Tennessee, in 2010. The defendant, Charles Edward Mason, now 51, received a nine-year sentence in the first case and a seven-year sentence in the second. He had been accused of shooting a man with a pistol in the first case, the one in Kentucky, according to Knox County court records. He reportedly stabbed a man in the Anderson County case 15 years later.

When he was charged with attempted murder in Anderson County this year, Mason was on probation in a different case involving drug and driver’s license violations. He had pleaded guilty in January to possessing more than 0.5 grams of methamphetamine for resale and driving on a revoked or suspended license. He had received a 10-year sentence, and he had agreed to be declared a habitual motor vehicle offender as well, according to Anderson County court records.

Now, he is facing 24 new charges in Anderson County, including two counts of attempted first-degree murder, eight counts of aggravated assault, three counts of aggravated kidnapping, and three drug charges, among other counts.

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FBI, Clinton PD searching for suspected bank robber

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The Federal Bureau of Investigation and Clinton Police Department are looking for a man suspected of robbing the Ft. Sill Bank inside the Walmart in Clinton on Tuesday, May 21, 2019. (Photo courtesy FBI)

Note: This story was updated at 11:40 a.m. May 22.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and Clinton Police Department are looking for a man suspected of robbing a bank in Clinton on Tuesday afternoon.

The FBI and CPD said a man robbed the local branch of the Fort Sill National Bank inside the Walmart in Clinton. The man entered the bank at 4:15 p.m. and demanded money, the FBI said.

“Reports say a suspect entered the bank, located inside the Walmart store, and passed a note demanding money,” the CPD said.

[Read more…]

Friday: NBC’s ‘Dateline’ to focus on bank heists by Benanti, Witham

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Matthew Yussman (Photo courtesy Dateline NBC)

A new two-hour “Dateline” on Friday will focus on the bank heists by Michael Benanti and Brian Witham, two men who pleaded guilty to or were convicted of their roles in a violent bank extortion and robbery spree in four states and several cities, including Oak Ridge and Knoxville, NBC News said this week.

Oak Ridge Today covered the case, and the Knoxville News Sentinel had extensive coverage.

Here is the official listing and preview link:

[Read more…]

Man, woman receive sentences of 3-5 years in robbery pleas

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Lindsay Elaine Pressley

Lindsay Elaine Pressley

 

A Powell woman received a five-year sentence and a Knoxville man received a three-year sentence when they pleaded guilty to a robbery in Claxton that authorities said started with an advertisement for escort services posted on backpage.com.

Lindsay Elaine Pressley, 29, entered her plea agreement in Anderson County Criminal and Circuit Court in Clinton on October 29.

Her co-defendant, Richard Paul Pressley, 32, entered his plea agreement last week, on Tuesday, April 2.

As part of their plea deals, an aggravated robbery charge filed against both Pressleys was reduced to robbery. Their charges of especially aggravated kidnapping with a deadly weapon were reduced to kidnapping. And charges of conspiracy to commit especially aggravated kidnapping were reduced to conspiracy to commit aggravated kidnapping. Charges of conspiracy to commit aggravated robbery remained unchanged. All four charges are felony charges.

In each case, the sentences for the individual charges run concurrently, or at the same time.

[Read more…]

Clinton store clerk, accomplice arrested after robbery reported

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Image by Clinton Police Department

Image by Clinton Police Department

 

Clinton Police Department officers arrested a Lee’s Travel Center clerk and another man in connection with the report of an aggravated robbery of the convenience store on February 5, the CPD said in a post published on Facebook.

Reports said Justin Pennington was working at the store at 2233 North Charles G. Seivers Boulevard in Clinton when a masked man pulled out a knife and told him to open the cash register or he would stab him, the CPD said.

Clinton Police Department Investigator Sergeant Scott Gregory, after reviewing store surveillance and gathering more information, discovered that the masked man, who was identified as Jacob T. Maiden, took money from the cash register and then placed two bags of suspected narcotics on the counter and left the scene, the CPD said. [Read more…]

Exclusive: Two plead guilty in robbery that ends with shooting

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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)

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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Note: Most news stories on Oak Ridge Today are free, brought to you by Oak Ridge Today with help from our advertisers, sponsors, and subscribers. Some are considered premium content. This story is premium content. Premium content can include in-depth, investigative, and exclusive stories.

Anderson County man indicted on carjacking, assault charges

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Justin Wade Welch

Justin Wade Welch

 

An Anderson County man who allegedly took two cars by force and tried to take another in Clinton in March 2017 has been indicted on carjacking and assault charges by the Anderson County Grand Jury.

Justin Wade Welch, 31, was charged in an eight-count indictment filed April 3. At the time of the indictment, he had been jailed at the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton since March 30, 2017, the date of the alleged incident.

The charges against Welch include three counts of carjacking and one count each of attempted carjacking, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon (a vehicle), evading arrest, driving on a suspended or revoked license, and resisting a stop, search, or arrest involving a weapon (a vehicle).

Charges against Welch had been waived to the Grand Jury in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Clinton on September 6.

He pleaded not guilty to the eight indicted charges in Anderson County Criminal Court in Clinton on April 30. [Read more…]

Attempted carjacking charge added in crash that injured officer

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Khristoff Deshawn Lee

Khristoff Deshawn Lee

 

An attempted carjacking charge has been added to the eight charges already filed against a man accused of injuring an Oak Ridge officer when he fled from police and crashed on South Illinois Avenue last week.

After the five-vehicle crash on Wednesday, April 4, Khristoff Deshawn Lee, 24, of Oak Ridge, was charged with three felony counts of aggravated assault by motor vehicle, two felony counts of reckless endangerment, one felony count of aggravated domestic assault, and one misdemeanor count of evading arrest and another misdemeanor count of resisting, stop, halt, and frisk.

The attempted carjacking charge, a Class C felony, was added Friday, April 6, according to Anderson County court records.

An affidavit filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Oak Ridge said Lee, who was reported to be a fugitive, tried to force his way into two different vehicles in the Panera Bread parking lot as he fled from police on foot after the April 4 crash. [Read more…]

Three arrested after alleged robbery

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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 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

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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…]

Two charged in alleged robbery that started with car sale

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Michael Sharp

Michael Rodney Sharp

 

Two people have been charged in an alleged robbery that started with a car sale, court records said.

The robbery was reported to have occurred on Bolin Road on the west side of Rocky Top on Thursday, February 22.

The two people charged with aggravated robbery in the case are Michael Rodney Sharp, 50, and Stephanie Jean Hoskins, 29, who both live on Bolin Road, according to Anderson County jail records.

The victim reported going to Bolin Road to buy a car from Sharp, according to affidavits filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Clinton by Anderson County Sheriff’s Department Deputy Gregory Stanley.

While she was talking to Sharp, the victim said, Hoskins hit her in the back of the head with a stick, knocking her unconscious, according to the affidavits. The victim said she was unconscious for about five minutes. [Read more…]

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