Two men arrested on robbery charges; one also wanted for attempted murder, ORPD says

ORPD-East-Tennessee-Ave-Arrests-March-20-2016

Two men wanted on robbery charges were taken into custody by the Oak Ridge Police Department SWAT and Patrol at 442 East Tennessee Avenue on Sunday, March 20, 2016, without incident after a tip. (Photo by ORPD via Twitter)

  Note: This story was last updated at 1:37 p.m. Two men wanted on robbery charges were arrested after officers from the Oak Ridge Police Department entered a home on East Tennessee Avenue on Sunday evening, authorities said. One of the men was also wanted on charges that include attempted first-degree murder, statutory rape, and aggravated assault, the ORPD said. The Oak Ridge Police Department said it learned at about 4 p.m. Sunday that brothers Joseph Garner Lee and Khristoff Deshawn Lee were at 442 East Tennessee Avenue.
Kristoff D Lee

Khristoff D. Lee

Khristoff Deshawn Lee, 22, had multiple warrants for his arrest for charges of assault, attempted murder (first-degree), statutory rape, aggravated assault, and robbery, and Joseph Garner Lee, 26, had a warrant for his arrest for a robbery charge, the ORPD said. ORPD Special Projects Unit and Patrol Division personnel verified that Joseph Garner Lee was present at the home, a press release said. “Due to the nature of the charges and previous contacts with both individuals, at approximately 7:30 p.m., ORPD tactical officers entered the residence and arrested both individuals without incident,” the press release said. [Read more…]

Man pleads guilty to murder-, robbery-related charges in drug deal that ended in death

Bronx Washington

Bronx Washington

An Oak Ridge man has pleaded guilty to murder- and robbery-related charges in what police described as a marijuana deal that ended with one man dead.

Bronx Shavon Washington, who is now 22, pleaded guilty in Anderson County Criminal Court on Monday. He entered the guilty pleas on a reduced charge of facilitation to commit second-degree murder, a Class B felony, and a reduced charge of facilitation to commit aggravated robbery, a Class C felony. Washington received a total 14-year sentence on those two charges as well as a drug possession charge. He was the last of three defendants to plead guilty in the case.

Washington and two brothers, Brandon Javon Brooms, now 25, and James Stefan Brooms, now 27, had each been indicted in March 2012 on charges of first-degree murder and especially aggravated robbery in the death of Antonio “Tony” Phillips, 22. [Read more…]

Four young adults indicted in alleged plot to rob a woman for rent money

Raymond R. Gray

Raymond R. Gray

Four young Oak Ridge adults have been indicted in an alleged plot to rob a woman for rent money.

The alleged armed robbery occurred on Highland Avenue at about midnight April 1, 2015, Oak Ridge Police Department Officer Ben Higgins said in warrants filed last year in Anderson County General Sessions Court.

The victim said three men who had their faces covered robbed her at gunpoint and fled in a black Chevy sedan, the warrants said. The victim followed them north on Highland Avenue.

ORPD Officer Ray Steakley located the car at the intersection of State Route 61 and State Route 62, and he pulled over the car on Midway Road in Oliver Springs.

Christopher D. Ramsey

Christopher D. Ramsey

One of the defendants, Whitney T. Stewart, 22, of Oak Ridge, was driving, Higgins said. The other three co-defendants—Raymond R. Gray, 21; Christopher D. Ramsey, 21; and Tevin M. Springs, 20; all of Oak Ridge—were in the car, Higgins said.

The four were arrested after the alleged robbery last year and charged with aggravated robbery and criminal conspiracy.

They were indicted by the Anderson County Grand Jury on Tuesday, January 5. [Read more…]

Powell man arrested after Saturday home invasion robbery in Claxton

Michael John Cathcart

Michael John Cathcart

A Powell man was arrested after the home invasion robbery reported in Claxton on Saturday morning, authorities said.

Michael John Cathcart, 33, of Clinton Highway in Powell, has been charged with three counts of aggravated robbery, three counts of aggravated assault, and one count of theft, Anderson County Sheriff’s Department Chief Deputy Mark Lucas said Sunday afternoon.

The robbery was reported on Duke Street in Ben’s Mobile Home Park off Edgemoor Road on Saturday morning, when a man said he was assaulted and robbed at gunpoint of his prescription narcotics by two other men. [Read more…]

Home invasion robbery reported in Claxton on Saturday

Anderson County Sheriff Patch

A man said he was assaulted and robbed at gunpoint of his prescription narcotics by two males during a home invasion robbery in Claxton on Saturday morning, authorities said.

The alleged robbery was reported on Duke Street in Ben’s Mobile Home Park off Edgemoor Road.

The victim received a minor head injury and was taken to the hospital by Anderson County EMS, Anderson County Sheriff’s Department Chief Deputy Mark Lucas said. There were two other people in the home with the victim at the time of the robbery, Lucas said. [Read more…]

Man, 27, accused of attacking, robbing grandfather, 81

Trenton-Johnson

Trenton Johnson

The day after he was found unresponsive in a bathroom, with a syringe on the floor and suspected heroin in his jacket pocket, a 27-year-old Oak Ridge man allegedly attacked his 81-year-old grandfather, pushed him down, and stole his wallet, authorities said.

Trenton Johnson of Briarwood Drive was found on his back and unresponsive on a bathroom floor, lying between a toilet and bathtub, at the Briarwood Drive home on Saturday, December 19, Oak Ridge Police Department Officer Kevin M. Merritt said.

A syringe was on the floor next to Johnson, Merritt said. On the edge of the bathtub, there was a pack of cigarettes, lighter, and metal spoon, the officer said. [Read more…]

Two men indicted in robbery, kidnappings at Y-12 Credit Union, SmartBank

Michael Benanti

Michael Benanti (Photo courtesy WATE-TV in Knoxville)

Brian Witham

Brian Witham (Photo courtesy WATE-TV in Knoxville)


Note: This story was last updated at 10:37 p.m.

Two men were indicted Tuesday for plots that involved kidnapping family members and robbing or attempting to rob three banks and credit unions in Oak Ridge, Knoxville, and Elizabethton, Tennessee.

The two men are Michael Benanti and Brian Witham. One is from Pennsylvania, and the other is from Maine.

The three financial institutions they targeted were Y-12 Federal Credit Union on Lafayette Drive in Oak Ridge, SmartBank on Advantage Place in Knoxville, and Northeast Community Credit Union on Jason Witten Way in Elizabethton.

The indictment of Benanti and Witham by a federal grand jury for the armed bank extortions was filed on Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Knoxville. You can read the 15-count indictment, which also includes charges of carjacking and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, here. [Read more…]