Oak Ridge Today

One injured, charges pending in Turnpike crash

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One person was injured and charges are pending after a two-vehicle crash involving a semi truck on Oak Ridge Turnpike on Monday, Dec. 12, 2022. A Lifestar helicopter flew one injured person to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville. (Photo by Annah Foard-Barish)

One person was injured and charges are pending after a two-vehicle crash involving a semi truck on Oak Ridge Turnpike on Monday.

The crash was reported at about 1:40 p.m. between Adams Lane and Van Hicks Road, just west of Illinois Avenue, according to law enforcement officers.

A preliminary crash report from the Tennessee Highway Patrol said Amber O. Carow, 27, was driving west on the Turnpike in a 2004 Toyota Camry when the vehicle crossed over two lanes and hit the trailer of a 2020 Volvo semi truck driving east.

When the Camry stopped, it was facing east, opposite its direction of travel, the report said. The collision knocked the truck trailer off its back tandem.

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Two die in Edgemoor Road crash

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Two people died in a crash between a pickup truck and a tractor-trailer truck on Edgemoor Road on Thursday.

The crash was reported at New Henderson Road in Claxton at about 6:22 p.m. Thursday.

A preliminary report from the Tennessee Highway Patrol said Jordan K. Scott, 29, of Knoxville, was driving a 1991 Ford F150 pickup truck north on New Henderson Road when he pulled out in front of a 2019 Peterbilt tractor-trailer truck driven by Rex A. Sparks, 56, of Cedar Bluff, Virginia. Sparks had been driving east on Edgemoor Road, toward Clinton Highway.

Scott’s two passengers in the pickup truck died in the collision. The THP identified them as Gregory L. Sweet, 57, of Oak Ridge, and Marion M. West, 54, of Clinton.

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Three Ohio residents die in two-vehicle crash

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Three Ohio residents died in a two-vehicle crash on Edgemoor Road at Old Emory Road in Claxton on Friday, July 22.

The three Ohio residents were all in the same vehicle, a 2018 Honda CRV, and they were all from Mansfield, Ohio, according to a preliminary report from the Tennessee Highway Patrol. The driver was Peter Webel, 75, and the two passengers were Linda Webel, 76, and Frieda Gottschling, 80.

The other vehicle, a 2004 GMC Sonoma, was driven by a juvenile male from Knoxville.

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Passenger dies after THP pursuit

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The passenger has died after a two-vehicle crash during a police pursuit in Anderson County on Sunday, January 30.

It’s the second death after the police chase and fatal crash near the intersection of Mountain Road and Highway 441 at about 2 p.m. that Sunday. The driver, Elijah Morley of Dandridge, died after the crash.

On Wednesday, Dave Clark, Seventh Judicial District attorney general, said Morley’s passenger, Dustin Dienst of Morristown, died Tuesday night. He had been hospitalized since the crash.

A Tennessee Highway Patrol trooper, Austin Dean, was also injured in the crash. Clark said earlier that Dean was treated and released from a hospital.

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Driver identified in fatal AC crash

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The driver who died has been identified after a police pursuit and fatal crash in Anderson County on Sunday.

The identity of the driver and two other people injured in the two-vehicle crash were initially withheld after the crash at Mountain Road and Highway 441 at about 2 p.m. Sunday.

On Saturday, Dave Clark, district attorney general in the Seventh Judicial District in Anderson County, said the medical examiner had completed the identification of the driver who died and notified family members.

The driver has been identified as Elijah Morley of Dandridge and the passenger who was injured in that vehicle was identified as Dustin Dienst of Morristown, Clark said.

The Tennessee Highway Patrol trooper who was injured in the crash was Austin Dean, Clark said.

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One dies, trooper injured after AC crash

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A driver died and a Tennessee Highway Patrol trooper was injured after a crash in Anderson County on Sunday.

The THP was pursuing a vehicle with two people inside at about 2 p.m. Sunday, according to Dave Clark, district attorney general in the Seventh Judicial District in Anderson County.

The pursuit continued along several roads before the vehicle being chased and the THP cruiser left the roadway and crashed near the intersection of Mountain Road and Highway 441, Clark said.

The driver of the vehicle being chased died, and a passenger in that vehicle was injured and was taken to a hospital, Clark said. The trooper was also injured and was treated and released from a hospital, Clark said.

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Ohio woman dies in I-75 crash

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An Ohio woman died after her vehicle ran off the roadway, went airborne, and crashed into the median on Interstate 75 in Anderson County on Friday morning.

The driver who died was Sherry Driggers, 67, of Hamilton, Ohio, according to a preliminary crash report from the Tennessee Highway Patrol.

The one-vehicle fatal crash occurred at about 9:53 a.m. Friday at mile marker 126 north of the Norris exit.

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Two die in crashes in Anderson County

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Two people died in crashes in Anderson County this past weekend. One was a student at Hardin Valley Academy, and the other was a 43-year-old Knoxville woman.

The first crash, which killed the HVA senior, was reported in the Claxton area on Friday night. Seventh Judicial District Attorney General Dave Clark said it was a graduation season tragedy involving some young people who had been celebrating in Knox County.

“Whether they were served alcohol at a commercial establishment is being investigated,” Clark said in a social media post on Saturday.

Clark said it appeared that eight people were riding in a pickup truck when it crashed in the Claxton area on New Henderson Road at Henderson Bend Road.

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Charges pending, three injured in crash into TVA transmission tower

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Charges are pending after a crash into an electrical transmission tower that caused widespread power outages Friday afternoon, Jan. 22, 2021, the Tennessee Highway Patrol said. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Charges are pending and three people were injured in a single-vehicle crash into a large high-voltage transmission tower that caused widespread power outages Friday afternoon, the Tennessee Highway Patrol said.

The crash was reported at about 4:15 p.m. Friday at Union Valley Road and South Illinois Avenue in Oak Ridge.

A preliminary report from the THP said Dustin Elliot, 28, of Mobile, Alabama, was driving a white 2015 Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck north on South Illinois Avenue (State Route 62) when he went off the right side of the road and hit the Tennessee Valley Authority transmission tower. The tower was damaged, knocked over, and leaning over the road.

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Two killed in car-motorcycle crash

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Two people died in a collision between a car and motorcycle on Clinton Highway on Thursday afternoon, law enforcement officers said.

The crash was reported at about 2:46 p.m. Thursday at East Wolf Valley Road.

Zachary Johnston, 29, of Clinton, and Stephanie Whitaker, 31, of Knoxville died in the crash, according to a Tennessee Highway Patrol report.

Johnston was driving a 2004 Honda Shadow Aero motorcycle, and Whitaker was a passenger, the report said.

The THP said the other vehicle, a 2001 Honda Accord car, was driven by Casey Hall, 38, of Heiskell.

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Two teens die, two injured in Roane County crash

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Two teenagers died and two were injured in a single-vehicle crash into a tree in Roane County on Sunday afternoon, state troopers said.

The fatal crash was reported at about 2:42 p.m. Sunday on Orchard Valley Drive at Dyllis Road in Roane County. That’s north of Heritage Center, the former K-25 site in west Oak Ridge.

The two male passengers who died were Austin J. French, 18, and Joshua A. Freels, 16, according to a Tennessee Highway Patrol report.

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Driver identified in fatal crash at Bull Run Creek

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The driver has been identified in a fatal single-vehicle crash into Bull Run Creek in Claxton on Thursday night, April 18, 2019. The Toyota Highlander sport utility vehicle, which had been submerged, was pulled from the water at about midnight. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Note: This story was updated at 3:40 p.m.

The driver has been identified in a fatal single-vehicle crash into Bull Run Creek in Claxton on Thursday night.

The driver, Douglas A. Batson, 66, of Knoxville, was traveling west in a 2007 Toyota Highlander sport utility vehicle on New Henderson Road at about 9:20 p.m. Thursday when he turned on his signal to make a right turn, according to rescuers and a fatality report from the Tennessee Highway Patrol. Batson drove off the right side of the road, the report said.

“The vehicle then struck some wooden pylons and then went into the river and then sank to the bottom,” the report said.

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