robbery Archives - Oak Ridge Today

State asks to revoke or raise bond for robbery suspect

Posted at 8:09 pm January 20, 2023
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

A prosecutor has asked an Anderson County judge to revoke or raise bond for a man charged with a robbery in Oak Ridge six years ago after he allegedly assaulted two deputies at the Anderson County jail in December.

Prosecutors have offered reasons for the delay in the robbery case, including the COVID-19 pandemic, several changes in attorneys, and a failure to appear.

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

Already a member? Great! Thank you! Sign in here.

Not a member? No problem! Subscribe here:

Basic

Pro

Temporary

Temporary access ($3 per week for two weeks)

If you prefer to send a check, you may do so by mailing one to:

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

We also have advanced subscription options. You can see them here.

We also accept donations. You can donate here. A donation of $50 or more will make you eligible for a subscription.

Thank you for reading Oak Ridge Today. We appreciate your support!

Appeals court upholds 30-year robbery sentence

Posted at 7:35 pm December 4, 2022
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

A Tennessee appeals court this summer upheld a 30-year prison sentence against an Oliver Springs man convicted of aggravated robbery in Clinton, finding that the Anderson County trial court did not err in sentencing him as a career offender.

Wallace Wade Tidwell, 44, had been accused of robbing a Shell gas station on Charles Seivers Boulevard in Clinton in June 2015. A clerk testified at trial in April 2019 that Tidwell came out of the store’s bathroom, ordered her to give him the money in the cash register, lifted his shirt, and showed her what she thought was the butt of a gun in his waistband, according to a 14-page opinion filed by the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals in Knoxville.

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

Already a member? Great! Thank you! Sign in here.

Not a member? No problem! Subscribe here:

Basic

Pro

Temporary

Temporary access ($3 per week for two weeks)

If you prefer to send a check, you may do so by mailing one to:

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

We also have advanced subscription options. You can see them here.

We also accept donations. You can donate here. A donation of $50 or more will make you eligible for a subscription.

Thank you for reading Oak Ridge Today. We appreciate your support!

Second man arrested after gas station robbery

Posted at 12:28 pm November 27, 2022
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

A second Oak Ridge man was arrested after a robbery was reported at a gas station on Lake City Highway on Monday.

James Hunter Oran, 21, has been charged with facilitation of a felony and accessory after the fact. He is alleged to have driven the 21-year-old man charged with the robbery, Carlos Hernandez, to and from the Rocky Top 76 gas station and waited for Hernandez while he was in the store, according to affidavits filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Clinton.

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

Already a member? Great! Thank you! Sign in here.

Not a member? No problem! Subscribe here:

Basic

Pro

Temporary

Temporary access ($3 per week for two weeks)

If you prefer to send a check, you may do so by mailing one to:

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

We also have advanced subscription options. You can see them here.

We also accept donations. You can donate here. A donation of $50 or more will make you eligible for a subscription.

Thank you for reading Oak Ridge Today. We appreciate your support!

Oak Ridge man charged with gas station robbery

Posted at 1:04 pm November 23, 2022
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

A 21-year-old Oak Ridge man was arrested and charged with robbery, kidnapping, and theft after allegedly holding two gas station employees at gunpoint and taking money from a cash register at Rocky Top 76 on Lake City Highway on Monday.

Carlos Hernandez was charged with two counts of aggravated robbery, aggravated kidnapping, theft of $1,000 to $2,500, and tampering with evidence.

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

Already a member? Great! Thank you! Sign in here.

Not a member? No problem! Subscribe here:

Basic

Pro

Temporary

Temporary access ($3 per week for two weeks)

If you prefer to send a check, you may do so by mailing one to:

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

We also have advanced subscription options. You can see them here.

We also accept donations. You can donate here. A donation of $50 or more will make you eligible for a subscription.

Thank you for reading Oak Ridge Today. We appreciate your support!

Rocky Top woman pleads guilty to murder, sentenced to life

Posted at 5:48 pm June 7, 2022
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Christy Viola Comer, left, who pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in Anderson County Criminal Court in Clinton on Tuesday, June 7, 2022, listens to testimony during a preliminary hearing in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Clinton on Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2019. At right is defense attorney Leslie Hunt. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

An Anderson County woman pleaded guilty Tuesday to first-degree murder and aggravated robbery in the death of J.C. Copeland, an 83-year-old Rocky Top man, and she was sentenced to life in prison plus an extra 20 years.

Christy Viola Comer, 41, entered the guilty plea in Anderson County Criminal Court in Clinton on Tuesday afternoon.

Christy Viola Comer, left, who pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in Anderson County Criminal Court in Clinton on Tuesday, June 7, 2022, listens to testimony during a preliminary hearing in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Clinton on Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2019. At right is defense attorney Leslie Hunt. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Christy Viola Comer, 41, entered the guilty plea in Anderson County Criminal Court in Clinton on Tuesday afternoon.

Comer had planned to rob Copeland, who was described as a “sweet old man,” because “it would be easy,” according to testimony during a preliminary hearing in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Clinton in January 2019.

Comer traded some of the property stolen from Copeland’s home, a digital video disc player, for a $10 bag of methamphetamine, according to court testimony by Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Agent John Hannon.

Copeland’s body was found partially wrapped in a pink blanket underneath a porch at a mobile home on Jacksboro Avenue in Rocky Top on August 31, 2018, Hannon said. Copeland is believed to have been strangled until he died, according to court records. There was white rope around his neck and other parts of his body, including his wrists and ankles, Hannon testified during the preliminary hearing.

“In the overnight hours of August 30, 2018, Christy Comer made the decision to rob him (Copeland) to get money for methamphetamine,” Seventh Judicial District Attorney General Dave Clark said in a press release Tuesday.

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

Already a member? Great! Thank you! Sign in here.

Not a member? No problem! Subscribe here:

Basic

Pro

Temporary

Temporary access ($3 per week for two weeks)

If you prefer to send a check, you may do so by mailing one to:

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

We also have advanced subscription options. You can see them here.

We also accept donations. You can donate here. A donation of $50 or more will make you eligible for a subscription.

Thank you for reading Oak Ridge Today. We appreciate your support!

For members: Man charged with three store robberies

Posted at 3:11 pm July 17, 2021
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

An Oak Ridge man has been charged with three store robberies in December and January. Two of the stores that were robbed were in Oak Ridge, and one was in Claxton. More than $3,000 was reported stolen, and a license plate reader tied the suspect to the Claxton robbery, according to court records. He was arrested after a foot chase after the third alleged robbery.

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

Already a member? Great! Thank you! Sign in here.

Not a member? No problem! Subscribe here:

Basic

Pro

Temporary

Temporary access ($3 per week for two weeks)

If you prefer to send a check, you may do so by mailing one to:

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

We also have advanced subscription options. You can see them here.

We also accept donations. You can donate here. A donation of $50 or more will make you eligible for a subscription.

Thank you for reading Oak Ridge Today. We appreciate your support!

An Oak Ridge man has been charged with three convenience store robberies in December and January. Two of the stores that were allegedly robbed were in Oak Ridge, and one was in Claxton. More than $3,000 was reported stolen, and a license plate reader tied the suspect to the Claxton robbery, according to court records. He was arrested after a foot chase after the third alleged robbery.

The first two alleged robberies have already been reported. They were at the Marathon Market on Edgemoor Road in Claxton on December 29 and the J&C Market on East Tennessee Avenue in Oak Ridge on January 4.

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

Already a member? Great! Thank you! Sign in here.

Not a member? No problem! Subscribe here:

Basic

Pro

Temporary

Temporary access ($3 per week for two weeks)

If you prefer to send a check, you may do so by mailing one to:

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

We also have advanced subscription options. You can see them here.

We also accept donations. You can donate here. A donation of $50 or more will make you eligible for a subscription.

Thank you for reading Oak Ridge Today. We appreciate your support!

An Oak Ridge man has been charged with a second robbery, this one of a gas station in Claxton.

Partridge, 43, had already been charged by the Oak Ridge Police Department this month with the robbery of J&C Market on East Tennessee Avenue in Oak Ridge.

Now, the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office has charged him with aggravated robbery, aggravated assault, and theft in the December 29 robbery of the Marathon gas station on Edgemoor Road in Claxton, a press release said. The felony warrants were obtained by Sheriff’s Office detective Josh Cardwell. Partridge reportedly brandished a firearm and demanded the Marathon employee empty the cash register, the press release said. He fled the scene with cash before deputies arrived, the release said. The Marathon employee was able to provide a physical description and a video recording showing the incident, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

[Read more…]

About Us

How To

Contact Us