Oak Ridge Today

Worried about city judge’s reaction, tenant concocted home invasion story after alleged rampage, police say

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

An Oak Ridge man who allegedly went on a rampage and broke bedroom windows inside his home concocted a story about a home invasion to try to avoid trouble with his landlord, City Judge Lawrence Tunnell, authorities said.

Derek Scott Fitzpatrick, 26, has been charged with false reporting, a felony. He remained jailed at the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton early Friday morning.

The alleged home invasion on North Hollywood Circle was reported one week ago at about 1 a.m. Friday, Nov. 1. The Oak Ridge Police Department quickly set up a perimeter in the Highland View neighborhood and searched for the two suspects for about 30 minutes before “finding out the story was made up,” Officer Garrett Robbins said in an affidavit filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court. [Read more…]

Man allegedly beaten, robbed in Anderson County

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Information from WYSH Radio

The Anderson County Sheriff’s Department responded to a home on Webber Lane Saturday night after a man was allegedly assaulted and robbed.

Few details of the incident have been made available, but responding deputies said that when they arrived at around 8:30 p.m. Sunday, Tommy Lowe was being loaded in to an ambulance bound for the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville for treatment of a black eye and laceration to his head.

Deputies were told that Lowe had been assaulted and robbed of $50 in cash and a cell phone. The Criminal Investigations Division is following up.

One pleads, one backs out of deal in 2011 robbery, murder

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Information from WYSH Radio

One man pleaded guilty to reduced charges in an August 2011 robbery that ended with one man being shot dead while his brother—the accused gunman—backed out of a plea deal and will stand trial next year.

On Wednesday, James Brooms, 24, entered a best-interest plea to facilitation to commit second-degree murder and attempted aggravated robbery and was sentenced to 12 years in prison. [Read more…]

Kentucky duo arrested after alleged burglary, homeowner confrontation, police chase

Posted at
By 2 Comments

Timothy Shane Petrey

Timothy Shane Petrey

Elizabeth Jane North

Elizabeth Jane North

A Kentucky man and woman were arrested after an alleged confrontation with a homeowner during a burglary on Andersonville Highway on Saturday morning and a short police chase, authorities said.

The alleged burglary at the Andersonville Highway home was discovered by the owner and a friend at about 11:30 a.m. Saturday, according to a press release from Anderson County Sheriff’s Department Chief Deputy Mark Lucas.

“The homeowner confronted the male suspect as he was exiting her home after the female suspect, who was sitting in a truck in the driveway, sounded the horn and yelled to the male,” Lucas said. “The male suspect and the homeowner struggled over some items that were being taken, and then he and the female suspect fled in the truck.” [Read more…]

Lake City man accused of punching woman in eye, taking $120

Posted at
By 1 Comment

A Lake City man charged with robbery is accused of taking $120 from a woman at a store and then punching her in the eye, arrest warrants said.

Ty Harcourt, 19, and another man allegedly gave the woman a ride to a store on Feb. 13, the warrants said. She had reportedly promised them gas money.

[Read more…]

Robbery suspect allegedly threatened to kill Kmart cashier

Posted at
By 1 Comment

Devlin Seth Walker

Devlin Seth Walker

Arrested Friday, the suspect in two recent robberies at the Kmart  pharmacy in Oak Ridge allegedly used misspelled hand-written notes to demand drugs and money and threaten to kill cashiers, authorities said.

In the first robbery, which occurred on Feb. 26, suspect Devlin Seth Walker, 34, of Lancing in Morgan County, allegedly handed a cashier a note that said, “Give me all your money and a bottle of Percoset or I will kill you,” according to arrest warrants filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court.

The cashier handed Walker the money from the register and the note, the warrants said. Walker then allegedly walked around the pharmacy counter and threatened the pharmacist. The pharmacist was allegedly forced to open a locked cabinet where the narcotics are stored, and Walker took four bottles of 10mg oxycodone from the cabinet and fled the store, said the warrants, filed by Oak Ridge Police Department Officer John Criswell.

[Read more…]

Kmart pharmacy robbed again

Posted at
By 8 Comments

Oak Ridge Police Respond to Kmart Robbery

The Oak Ridge Police Department responds to a reported robbery at the Kmart pharmacy on Tuesday evening.

A man who robbed the Kmart pharmacy on Tuesday fled on foot with $597 in cash but no pills, the Oak Ridge Police Department said Thursday.

It’s not clear yet if there is a connection between that stickup and a Feb. 26 pharmacy heist. It’s the second time in about a week that the pharmacy has been robbed.

ORPD Lt. Robin Smith said the suspect in this week’s robbery allegedly handed a note to a pharmacy clerk, demanding money and pills. The clerk cleaned out a cash drawer and gave the man $597, but no pills, Smith said.

[Read more…]

Oak Ridge police identify Kmart robbery suspect

Posted at
By 6 Comments

The Oak Ridge Police Department has identified a robbery suspect who allegedly stole $56 in cash and 387 oxycontin pills from the Kmart pharmacy last week.

The suspect has been identified as Jeramiah Frederick Webb, 35, of Morgan County, ORPD Lt. Robin Smith said Wednesday. Webb’s last known address was in Lancing, Smith said.

[Read more…]

WYSH: Anderson man pleads in robbery

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Information from WYSH Radio

An Anderson County man pleaded guilty last week to charges stemming from a robbery at the Dollar General Store in Clinton in May of 2011 that left a clerk with a broken leg.

Kelly Matthew Dick, 30, of Heiskell, was originally charged with aggravated robbery in connection to the May 14 incident in which he pushed a 57-year-old store employee to the ground, causing her to break her leg, before fleeing with $120 in cash.

[Read more…]

Man pleads guilty in woman’s death

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Information from WYSH Radio

A man pleaded guilty on Wednesday in Knoxville to killing a former Anderson County Jail employee during an armed robbery outside a Knoxville credit union in December 2010.

Brandon Johnson pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, aggravated robbery, and other charges and was sentenced to 45 years in prison with no early release in the shooting death of 46-year-old Davida Nicholson.

[Read more…]

WYSH: Clinton store robbed

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Information from WYSH Radio

Clinton Police are investigating an armed robbery that occurred at the AT&T store in Tanner Place on Saturday night.

Police were called to the store at around 7 p.m. Saturday by a contract sales associate for AT&T, who told investigators that she had been packing up her belongings to leave for the night when she heard the front door open. When she turned around, she spotted a white man with a pistol approaching her. The man laid the gun on the counter facing her and demanded money.

[Read more…]

Two alleged Christmas shopping robberies this month

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

The alleged robbery and assault reported to Oak Ridge police on Saturday was the second time this month someone reported they were robbed while Christmas shopping and would not be able to identify a suspect.

On Saturday, a 32-year-old Knoxville man told police he was assaulted and robbed of $300 while Christmas shopping for his children, but lost consciousness during the alleged assault and couldn’t remember where or how it occurred.

Earlier this month, a 34-year-old Hillside Road man reported he was robbed of about $700 in cash in Shoney’s restaurant parking lot while Christmas shopping with a female friend. The man said he was counting his cash in the parking lot, making sure he had enough money for lunch, when a woman walked up to him, took his cash, and fled in a gold Cadillac down Tulsa Road, an Oak Ridge Police Department report said.

[Read more…]