Oak Ridge Today

Knoxville man facing charges after crashing car into Bull Run Creek

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Rescuers respond to a single-vehicle crash off New Henderson Road and into deep water near Bull Run Park on Wednesday evening, March 8, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Rescuers respond to a single-vehicle crash off New Henderson Road and into deep water near Bull Run Park on Wednesday evening, March 8, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

CLAXTON—The 38-year-old Knoxville man who crashed a car into Bull Run Creek on Wednesday night is facing charges that include driving under the influence, theft of more than $1,000, stolen license and due care violations, and a charge of no driver’s license, authorities said.

Darrell W. Bouck Jr. had minor injuries, the Tennessee Highway Patrol said in a preliminary crash report. It’s not known if he was using a seat belt.

The car he was driving was a 2001 Infiniti I30. The Anderson County Sheriff’s Department said the vehicle had been reported stolen to the Knox County Sheriff’s Office.

The THP report said Bouck was driving north on New Henderson Road in Claxton and “failed to maintain the lane of travel.” He and the Infiniti went off the two-lane roadway, which runs parallel to a wide river-like section of Bull Run Creek, and struck two wooden barrier posts. There are barrier posts on the shoulder of the road, which is up an embankment from the creek.

The car then rolled over and entered the water, the THP said. The crash was reported at about 7:53 p.m., according to the THP report. [Read more…]

Driver injured after car, reported as stolen, crashes into water near Bull Run Park

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The Anderson County Rescue Squad searches for a vehicle that was reported to go into the water off New Henderson Road near Bull Run Park just after 8 p.m. Wednesday, March 8, 2017.

The Anderson County Rescue Squad searches for a vehicle that went off New Henderson Road and into Bull Run Creek near Bull Run Park in Claxton on Wednesday evening, March 8, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 1 p.m. March 9.

CLAXTON—The driver of a car that had been reported stolen was injured when the vehicle plunged off New Henderson Road and into deep water near Bull Run Park in Claxton on Wednesday evening, authorities said.

When deputies arrived, the driver was found lying on the embankment near the water, Anderson County Sheriff’s Department Chief Deputy Mark Lucas said.

Rescuers received a report that two men working at a nearby home heard the crash and pulled the driver of the car from the water to safety, Lucas said.

Divers from the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department, Anderson County Rescue Squad, and Knoxville Volunteer Rescue Squad checked the car and surrounding area in the water, but no other occupants were found, according to Lucas and Claxton Volunteer Fire Department Assistant Chief Dusty Sharpe and Lieutenant Mike Dabney.

Authorities said the driver was not initially alert. He was taken by ambulance to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville, Dabney said. The driver’s name, age, and condition weren’t available Wednesday night. [Read more…]

WYSH: Crash on I-75 injures four

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Information from WYSH Radio

Four people were transported to area hospitals following a two-vehicle crash on Interstate 75 South near the Anderson/Campbell County line on Monday night.

The Tennessee Highway Patrol said the crash involving a pickup and a car occurred at around 9 p.m. Monday. Two men and a five-year-old girl were in the Chevy pickup, while a female was the lone occupant of the Hyundai. The two men were flown by Lifestar to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville for treatment of their injuries, while the five-year-old was taken by ambulance after she managed to escape serious injury. The driver of the car was taken by ambulance to LaFollette Medical Center.

The names and conditions of those involved have not been released. [Read more…]

Seven ‘sovereign citizens’ who filed fraudulent liens arrested in Anderson County

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The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation announced on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2017, that a year-long investigation with the Federal Bureau of Investigation resulted in a 320-count indictment, and 10 people were arrested, including seven Anderson County residents, on charges of unlawfully filing liens and making false entries into records. (Photo courtesy TBI)

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation announced in Nashville on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2017, that a year-long investigation with the Federal Bureau of Investigation resulted in a 320-count indictment and 10 people were arrested, including seven Anderson County residents, on charges of unlawfully filing liens and making false entries into records. (Photo courtesy TBI)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 12:15 p.m. Feb. 17.

Seven “sovereign citizens” from Anderson County, including Lee Harold Cromwell, have been indicted and arrested on charges related to filing fraudulent liens against local officials, law enforcement officers, and public employees, authorities said Thursday.

The sovereign citizens were arrested Wednesday by teams that included agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, according to a press release from Seventh Judicial District Attorney General Dave Clark in Anderson County.

The TBI said a year-long investigation with the Federal Bureau of Investigation resulted in a 320-count indictment, and 10 people were arrested on charges of unlawfully filing liens and making false entries into records. Multiple other state, county, and local law enforcement agencies also participated in the arrests.

Dave Clark

Dave Clark

TBI special agents began their investigation at the request of Clark in May 2016. That was about the time that Anderson County Circuit and Criminal Court Judge Don Elledge learned that Cromwell had filed a lien against the judge, causing Elledge to recuse himself from a vehicular homicide and aggravated assault case filed against Cromwell. The judge vowed to do everything he could legally, morally, and ethically—both criminally and civilly—to prosecute Cromwell to the full extent of the law.

Elledge said he discussed the liens filed against him by Cromwell with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, a federal task force, the Seventh District Attorney General’s Office (the Anderson County DA), and local legislators. [Read more…]

TBI has press conference today on fraudulent liens, arrests in East Tennessee

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The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation will have a press conference this afternoon (Thursday, February 16) to discuss an investigation into fraudulent liens and arrests made in East Tennessee.

It’s not clear how many arrests were made or where, and who was arrested. But WYSH Radio in Clinton reported that local, state, and federal law enforcement officers assisted the TBI in arresting a suspect in South Clinton on Wednesday.

Oak Ridge Today received a report that the TBI and Federal Bureau of Investigation were both at the Anderson County Courthouse in Clinton on Wednesday during the trial for Lee Harold Cromwell. Cromwell is a 67-year-old Oak Ridge man convicted Wednesday in Anderson County Criminal Court of vehicular homicide and aggravated assault for a fatal parking lot crash at the Midtown Community Center after fireworks in Oak Ridge on July 4, 2015. It has been alleged, including in court hearings, that Cromwell is a sovereign citizen, or someone who might not recognize certain government authorities, although neither he nor his defense attorney have acknowledged in court hearings that he is.

Officials haven’t confirmed whether the investigation into fraudulent liens by the TBI includes the $137 million in liens filed by Cromwell against local law enforcement, the Internal Revenue Service, or Social Security, but they did announce after his convictions on Wednesday that Cromwell had been indicted in Davidson County, where the TBI is based. Cromwell’s bail was revoked, and he was immediately taken into custody. [Read more…]

One killed, two injured in head-on crash near Oliver Springs

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OLIVER SPRINGS—One person was killed and two were injured in a head-on crash on State Route 62 near Oliver Springs on Thursday evening, authorities said.

The two-vehicle crash was reported at about 7:34 p.m. Thursday at Big Mountain Hollow Road, a short distance north of Oliver Springs in Morgan County.

The Tennessee Highway Patrol said Timothy J. Young, 35, of Oliver Springs, was driving a 2003 Ford vehicle west, toward Coalfield and Wartburg, when he tried to pass another westbound vehicle and collided head-on with a 2000 Nissan driven east by Goman E. Harness, 50, of Oliver Springs. Young was killed, and Harness and his passenger, Frances M. Richardson, 47, of Coalfield, were injured, according to a THP fatal crash report. [Read more…]

Anderson County Sheriff’s Department K-9s help with Gatlinburg search

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Anderson County Sheriff’s Department K-9s helped search Gatlinburg after forest fires fed by hurricane-force winds raged through that tourist town and areas around the Chimney Tops trail in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Wears Valley, and Pigeon Forge on Monday, Nov. 28, 2016, burning 17,000 acres, killing 14 people, and damaging or destroying more than 1,700 structures. Pictured above is Deputy Candy Stooksbury and her K-9 partner Barnabas. (Photo by ACSD)

 

Anderson County Sheriff’s Department Deputy Candy Stooksbury and her K-9 partner Barnabas, a specially trained bloodhound, have helped in the search efforts in Gatlinburg after forest fires fed by hurricane-force winds raged through the tourist town last week. Corporal Rick Coley and K-9 Justus, and Deputy Matt Forsyth and K-9 BamBam, have also helped.

The deputies and K-9s helped the Knoxville Police Search And Rescue Team and the Tennessee Highway Patrol in the search, rescue, and recovery mission, Anderson County Sheriff’s Department Chief Deputy Mark Lucas said Tuesday.

Other local agencies also responded to the fires, including Anderson County EMS and fire departments in Anderson County. (See this previous story for more information.) The Oak Ridge Fire Department helped rescue 12 people trapped in cars surrounded by fires near the Dollywood theme park near Pigeon Forge. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge man killed when car crashes into tree stumps, house

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Note: This story was last updated at 10:10 a.m.

A 25-year-old Oak Ridge man died Monday night after a car crashed into tree stumps on East Wolf Valley Road, overturned into a parked car, and hit a house, authorities said.

The man was identified as Albert W. Brown, 25, of Oak Ridge.

He was a passenger in a 2001 Audi ATQ driven by Mark E. Floer, 52, of Heiskell, according to the Tennessee Highway Patrol.

The THP said Floer was driving the Audi east on East Wolf Valley Road at about 10:45 p.m. Monday when he left the right side of the roadway, hit two tree stumps, overturned and hit a parked 1998 Ford Escape and then a house. [Read more…]

Two serious crashes, one fatal, reported in Anderson County on Monday

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Two serious crashes, one of them fatal, were reported in Anderson County on Monday, authorities said.

The first two-vehicle crash was reported at about 9:30 p.m. Monday on Yarnell Road near East Wolf Valley Road. Three people were injured, and all three were taken to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville by ambulance, said Mark Lucas, Anderson County Sheriff’s Department chief deputy.

The second crash, a fatal crash, was reported at about 10:45 p.m. Monday on East Wolf Valley Road near Nolan Lane. The car ran off the road and hit a home, Lucas said. One person was killed, and the other was transported to the UT Medical Center. [Read more…]

Two killed, four injured in four-vehicle crash on Clinton Highway

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anderson-county-sheriffs-department-clinton-highway-sept-30-2016

A Georgia man and a Powell man who were in a vehicle that fled a traffic stop in Knox County were killed in a four-vehicle crash on Clinton Highway in Anderson County late Friday morning, authorities said. A short section of Clinton Highway was closed for about five hours between Mehaffey Road and Old Clinton Pike as the Tennessee Highway Patrol investigated the fatal crash, which also injured four people. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

A Georgia man and a Powell man who were in a vehicle that fled a traffic stop in Knox County were killed in a four-vehicle crash on Clinton Highway in Anderson County late Friday morning, authorities said.

Four other people were injured in the crash, according to the Tennessee Highway Patrol.

The men who died were driver Roy Simmons, 29, of Helena, Georgia, and passenger Charles Miller, 25, of Powell, Tennessee, the THP said in a fatal crash report. The two men were in a 2001 Ford TSS driven by Simmons.

The crash was reported at about 11:32 a.m. Friday on Clinton Highway near the intersection with Old Clinton Pike in Anderson County, near the Anderson-Knox county line, the THP said.

The fatal crash report said a Knox County Sheriff’s Office deputy was trying to stop the car driven by Simmons in the northbound lanes of Clinton Highway near West Beaver Creek in Knox County, but the car fled. While fleeing, the car lost control and crossed the center line while going left around a curve, the crash report said. [Read more…]

THP investigates fatal crash on Clinton Highway near Anderson-Knox county line

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A short section of Clinton Highway was closed at Mehaffey Road going into Knox County on Friday, Sept. 30, 2016 as the Tennessee Highway Patrol investigated a fatal crash. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 5:40 p.m.

Clinton Highway was shut down in both directions near the Anderson-Knox county line on Friday afternoon as the Tennessee Highway Patrol investigated a fatal crash, authorities said.

The road will be closed “until further notice,” the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department said early Friday afternoon. “Please avoid this area.”

It’s a multi-vehicle crash, said Mark Nagi of the Tennessee Department of Transportation. [Read more…]

Father allegedly flees crash where injured son is trapped, then flees hospital nude, THP says

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Jacob Daniel Baxter

Jacob Daniel Baxter

 

An Anderson County man allegedly fled a crash where his juvenile son, who was partially ejected and injured, was trapped between a van and a barn, and the man later fled from a hospital nude, authorities said.

The crash was reported at about 11:29 p.m. Saturday, September 3, on Old Lake City Highway.

The Tennessee Highway Patrol said Jacob Daniel Baxter, 33, of Black Oak Road in Anderson County, was driving west in a white 1999 Dodge Caravan on Old Lake City Highway when he lost control while going round a curve. The van went off the right side of the road and stopped at a metal barn on the side of the road, according to the THP.

A 15-year-old boy, who is identified as Baxter’s son, was trapped between the van and the barn, according to arrest warrants filed by the THP in Anderson County General Sessions Court, Division I, in Clinton.

While Anderson County Rescue Squad personnel were helping to remove the trapped boy, Tennessee Highway Patrol Trooper Isaiah Lloyd began searching for the driver. [Read more…]