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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.

[Read more…]

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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Man charged with homicide in fatal Clinton Highway crash

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A Clinton man was charged with two counts of homicide and one count of driving under the influence after a fatal two-vehicle crash on Clinton Highway on Friday, authorities said.

The two felony homicide counts filed against Timothy James Gribble, 36, are vehicular homicide by intoxication and vehicular homicide by recklessness, according to Anderson County court records.

His DUI, a misdemeanor, is an alleged second offense, according to court records.

The two-vehicle crash was reported at about 5:27 p.m. Friday at the Clinton Highway intersection with Shepherd Lane, according to a fatality report by the Tennessee Highway Patrol.

The head-on collision killed Robert J. West, 64, of Harriman, the THP report said. [Read more…]

Woman dies in crash in Anderson County

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A 34-year-old woman died in a two-vehicle crash on East Wolf Valley Road in Anderson County on Tuesday morning, state troopers said.

The crash was reported at about 10:41 a.m. Tuesday, January 1, at the intersection with Crisman Road, the Tennessee Highway Patrol said in a fatality report.

Jenna McCue, 34, was driving a 2007 Toyota Corolla car east on East Wolf Valley Road when she lost control going around a curve at Crisman Road, the THP report said. McCue overcorrected, entered the westbound lane, and hit a 2018 Dodge Ram pickup driven west by Dennis R. Irwin, 65, the report said. [Read more…]

Man dies in car-bicycle crash on Mahoney Road

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Information from WYSH Radio

A 72-year-old bicyclist died in a car-bicycle crash on Mahoney Road outside Oliver Springs on Sunday, authorities said.

The bicyclist, Homer A. McElroy Jr. of Oliver Springs, was riding his bicycle west on Mahoney Road near the intersection with Pappy Lane and was “traveling near the center portion of the roadway” when he was hit a 2004 Toyota Camry being driven east by Scott Stockton, 44, of Oliver Springs, at about 6:30 p.m. Sunday, according to the Tennessee Highway Patrol. [Read more…]

Woman sentenced to eight years after drugs discarded during police chase

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Clarissa Sharee Tindell

Clarissa Sharee Tindell

 

A Knoxville woman who fled from the Tennessee Highway Patrol in a car in Anderson County last year as methamphetamine and heroin were discarded from the moving vehicle pleaded guilty to four charges and was sentenced to eight years in prison on Tuesday.

About 60 grams of methamphetamine and less than a gram of heroin were thrown out of a car window and two patrol vehicles were hit during the police chase, which started in Clinton and ended in Rocky Top on Sunday, July 30, 2017, according to court proceedings and affidavits.

The plea agreement hearing for the driver of the 1992 Honda Accord, Clarissa Sharee Tindell, 25, was Tuesday in Anderson County Criminal Court in Clinton. Her plea was by information, meaning she entered a plea before she was formally charged in an indictment by the Anderson County Grand Jury. Early pleas can lead to agreements more favorable to defendants.

Tindell, who was represented by defense attorney Paul Sexton of Oak Ridge, had been charged earlier in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Clinton in a case that included additional counts such as aggravated assault, possession of a firearm during a felony, speeding (117 mph in a 45 mph zone), and failure to yield the right of way, among other charges. Those charges were waived to the Grand Jury on June 6. [Read more…]

One killed in motorcycle crash on SR 61

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One person died in a motorcycle crash on State Route 61 in Oliver Springs on Wednesday, authorities said.

The single-vehicle crash killed Nakomia Joseph, 40, of Knoxville. She was a passenger in the custom “trike” motorcycle, according to a fatality report from the Tennessee Highway Patrol.

The crash was reported at about 7:21 p.m. Wednesday, the THP said.

The motorcycle was driven by Timothy Joseph, 38, of Clinton, and it was headed west on State Route 61 when an unknown object or animal “interrupted the vehicle’s path,” the THP said. [Read more…]

Reports: Deputy, prisoner injured in crash

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Yoonsik Jung

Yoonsik Jung

An Anderson County Sheriff’s Department deputy and a prisoner were injured in a three-vehicle rear-end crash at Interstate 75 early Sunday, and a Clinton man is facing charges of driving under the influence and reckless driving, among other counts, authorities said.

The crash was reported at about 1 a.m. Sunday on North Charles G. Seivers Boulevard (Highway 61) at I-75.

Anderson County Sheriff’s Department Deputy Gregory Stanley, 49, of Knoxville, was transporting a prisoner for the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency in a 2011 Ford Crown Victoria, and he was stopped at the traffic light at the I-75 southbound exit ramp when he was struck in the rear by a driver reported to be intoxicated, ACSD Chief  Deputy Mark Lucas said. TWRA had made an arrest on Norris Lake for domestic assault, and the Sheriff’s Department had responded to transport the person who had been arrested to the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton.

Stanley, the deputy, was stopped for the red light when his car was hit in the rear, Lucas said. Both Stanley and the prisoner, Eric Allen Rose, 25, of Powell, were taken to Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge by Anderson County EMS for non-life threatening injuries after the crash, Lucas said. [Read more…]

More charges pending after carjacking, chase, crash

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The driver of a vehicle allegedly stolen from a woman in a wheelchair in Oak Ridge on Saturday, June 23, 2018, fled from law enforcement officers, running red lights and passing vehicles in the turn lane at high speed, before crashing into a car and a traffic light pole on Clinton Highway at Powell Drive in Knox County, an incident report said. (Submitted photo)

The driver of a vehicle allegedly stolen from a woman in a wheelchair in Oak Ridge on Saturday, June 23, 2018, fled from law enforcement officers, running red lights and passing vehicles in the turn lane at high speed, before crashing into a car and a traffic light pole on Clinton Highway at Powell Drive in Knox County, an incident report said. (Submitted photo)

 

More charges are pending after a carjacking of a van occupied by a woman in a wheelchair in Oak Ridge on Saturday led to a police chase and crash on Clinton Highway in Knox County.

The Anderson County Sheriff’s Department has already said it would seek warrants against the suspect, Bradley Allan Thomas, 30, of Knoxville, and the Oak Ridge Police Department said criminal charges are pending.

Now, in a preliminary crash report, the Tennessee Highway Patrol said it is filing its own charges. They include reckless endangerment, reckless driving, obedience to traffic control signal, failure to maintain lane, improper passing, and driving on a suspended license.

“These are all THP charges and do not include outside agencies’ pending charges,” the crash report said.

An Anderson County Sheriff’s Department incident report said deputies would seek warrants against Thomas for evading arrest and reckless endangerment. [Read more…]

One adult, teenage driver, two children injured in crash near Norris

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A 17-year-old driver was flown to a hospital by a medical helicopter after a two-vehicle crash near Norris on Wednesday morning, and an adult driver and two young children were taken to a hospital with serious and minor injuries, authorities said.

The head-on collision was reported at about 7:35 a.m. on State Route 61 at Bethel Road just east of Interstate 75, according to the Tennessee Highway Patrol.

The 17-year-old was driving west on SR 61 in a 1999 Mazda 4000 when the teenager crossed the center line around Bethel Road, the THP said. [Read more…]

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