Information from WYSH Radio
One person died in a single-vehicle crash on Interstate 75 North in Anderson County on Thursday afternoon.
The Tennessee Highway Patrol responded to the scene just before 3:30 p.m. at exit 129, the Rocky Top (Lake City) exit.
The THP report indicates that a 1998 Ford pickup left the right side of the roadway, traveled into a ditch and flipped, partially ejecting the driver, 29-year-old William Overton of Jacksboro. Troopers say he was not wearing a seatbelt.
Edgemoor Road was closed for several hours near the Bull Run Fossil Plant on Wednesday evening as authorities investigated a four-vehicle crash that killed a motorcyclist.
CLAXTON—A Powell motorcyclist died Wednesday afternoon in a four-vehicle crash on Edgemoor Road in front of the Bull Run Fossil Plant, authorities said.
Kenneth Lubthisophon, 55, was riding east on Edgemoor Road at about 4:41 p.m. Wednesday when he hit the left rear of a car driven by a 54-year-old Knoxville woman who was slowing down for stopped traffic, the Tennessee Highway Patrol said.
Lubthisophon’s 1989 Honda G15 was then hit from behind by a pickup truck driven by a 25-year-old Clinton man, and Lubthisophon was thrown from the motorcycle into the westbound traffic lane, where he was hit by a second pickup truck driven by a 70-year-old Clinton man, according to a preliminary THP report.
Lubthisophon was wearing a helmet, the report said. [Read more…]
Three people died in a single-vehicle crash on East Wolf Valley Road in Anderson County on Friday night when the car went off the road, went airborne, rolled over, and ejected the three occupants, authorities said.
The 2004 Nissan S18 was traveling west on East Wolf Valley Road near White Oak Lane at about 11:30 p.m. Friday when it started to skid as driver Melissa A. Kelley, 44, of Knoxville, tried to go around a slight left curve, the Tennessee Highway Patrol said. Kelley was driving too fast for roadway conditions, and the four-door car left the right side of the road before going airborne and rolling over, according to a preliminary report by the THP.
Kelley died. So did her two passengers, William A. Housley, 44, of Clinton, and Kurt J. Miner, 25, of Heiskell. [Read more…]
Dave Clark
Note: This story was updated at 10:25 a.m. August 5.
DA responds to political targeting charge
There was no political targeting of Trooper Anthony Lay before his five-day suspension by the Tennessee Highway Patrol in May, but there were “real, serious, and repeated performance failures,” Anderson County District Attorney General Dave Clark said Friday.
Clark documented what he called Lay’s performance issues in a statement released Friday. A DUI charge in one case was dismissed, Clark said, after Lay failed to submit a complete case file and then did not respond to requests for documents by fax, mail, and email. He cited two cases where Lay failed to appear in response to a subpoena. In one of those cases, Lay faced potential arrest for contempt of court and showed up 20 minutes late, but the judge dismissed the case because Lay wasn’t present, the DA said.
Clark said he saved Lay from going to jail in that case because he declined to have the trooper arrested and instead called his sergeant to see if he could get Lay to court to avoid further trouble.
Clark cited another case where he said Lay failed to arrest a driver who was impaired and had four or more prior DUI convictions, possessed drugs and drug paraphernalia, and was a habitual motor vehicle offender. Lay issued the driver a ticket, but he should have taken the driver into custody after the man finished his medical treatment, Clark said.
In issuing his statement Friday, Clark said he was responding to Lay’s charges in recent stories about the trooper’s suspension by the THP in May. In those stories, published in several media outlets, Lay said he was the target of political attacks. [Read more…]
A Heiskell woman died in a two-car crash on Wednesday afternoon on East Wolf Valley Road in Anderson County.
The Tennessee Highway Patrol said the crash happened shortly after 5 p.m. Wednesday when Patricia Beckinger, 68, of Heiskell, lost control of her westbound Chevy Cavalier. It crossed into the eastbound lane and hit a 2000 Toyota Camry being driven by Alexandria Bone, 18, of Andersonville.
Beckinger died in the wreck, while Bone suffered what were described as minor injuries. Neither driver was wearing a seatbelt, according to a preliminary report by the THP. [Read more…]
There was a fatal two-car crash on East Wolf Valley Road in Anderson County on Wednesday afternoon, authorities said.
The driver of one car died, and the other driver had minor injuries, Anderson County Chief Deputy Mark Lucas said.
The road was closed for about three hours while the Tennessee Highway Patrol investigated the crash.
Lucas said the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department assisted the Tennessee Highway Patrol at the crash site. Oak Ridge Today has requested additional information from the THP and will update this story as new information becomes available.
Anthony Lay
Note: This story was last updated at 8:15 p.m. July 23.
A candidate for Anderson County sheriff suspended by the Tennessee Highway Patrol in May said he has been the target of political attacks.
THP Trooper Anthony Lay was suspended for five days in May for unsatisfactory job performance, a spokesperson said Monday. The suspension was based on several factors, including insubordination, neglect of duty, failure to perform the duties of his job, non-compliance with an internal database system, and having an unsecured patrol unit in a populated area, said Dalya Qualls, public information officer for the Tennessee Department of Safety.
The administrative review that led to Lay’s suspension was received in April 2014.
Lay said he had been off work for five months because of back surgery, and Anderson County District Attorney General Dave Clark reported that Lay had not turned in some requested case file documents. Lay said he did not receive the letter requesting the documents, and the request letters were apparently sent to a Knoxville office.
“I have received no documentation requests on it whatsoever,” Lay said. [Read more…]
Information from WYSH Radio
Two people were killed and two others seriously injured after a train crashed into a car Friday evening in Harriman.
Three of the four people in the car were basketball players at Roane State Community College, including two siblings, according to school officials. The Tennessee Highway Patrol report states that their vehicle was heading west on Tanglewood Drive when it attempted to cross at a railroad crossing and was hit by a train at around 8:45 p.m. Friday.
According to the report, 20-year-old Darius J. Gallaher of Harriman was driving the car and the passengers have been identified as 22-year-old Roderick Drummond from Greenville, S.C., 18-year-old Jadah Gallaher of Harriman, and 20-year-old Hunter Crass from Harriman. [Read more…]
A Harriman man died in a head-on two-car crash on State Highway 61 in Oliver Springs on Saturday night. (Photo by Tom Scott)
A Harriman man died in a head-on two-car crash on State Highway 61 on Saturday night, authorities said.
John E. Manis Jr., 57, was driving a 2000 Subaru Outback station wagon westbound on Highway 61 near Cemetery Road in Roane County, just outside Oliver Springs, when an eastbound Chevrolet S-10 pickup truck driven by a teenager crossed the center line and hit his vehicle head-on, the Tennessee Highway Patrol said in a preliminary crash report. The collision resulted in fatal injuries to Manis.
The crash occurred at about 9:57 p.m. Saturday. The 17-year-old driver of the pickup truck was injured, but she was not identified because she is a juvenile. Charges are pending, according to the THP report. The accident was investigated by Trooper Matthew Armes.
The THP said the teenager was not wearing a seat belt, and that would have made a difference. Manis was wearing a seat belt, the report said.
More information will be added as it becomes available.
Pictured above from left to right are THP Trooper Kevin Jones, OSPD Patrolman Shannon Runyan, THP Sgt. Dennis Smith, and OSPD Sgt. Rick Hamby. (Photo courtesy OSPD)
The Oliver Springs Police Department has recently partnered with the Tennessee Highway Patrol in an effort to reduce traffic fatalities on Tennessee roadways.
THP started its “Drive to Zero” campaign on April 3. The goal of the campaign is to reduce traffic fatalities by 15 percent during 2014. The campaign addresses hazardous moving violations, distracted drivers, seat belt use, and driving under the influence, a press release said.
In the announcement for that campaign, THP Sgt. Dennis Smith said each state trooper and police officer in attendance were asked one question: How many traffic fatalities is acceptable on your watch, in your neighborhood, involving someone you know?
The answer was zero by everyone present, the press release said. [Read more…]
Workers clean up and the Tennessee Highway Patrol investigates after a fatal two-vehicle crash between a pickup truck and tractor-trailer rig, pictured above on Edgemoor Road in Claxton on Wednesday morning.
CLAXTON—A 39-year-old Andersonville man died on Wednesday morning when the westbound pickup truck he was driving collided head-on with an eastbound tractor-trailer rig on Edgemoor Road in Claxton.
Michael T. Utley was headed west in a 2001 Dodge Dakota pickup at about 6:11 a.m. Wednesday when he crossed the center line into the eastbound lane and hit a 2000 Freightliner semi pulling a trailer loaded with heavy steel coils, according to preliminary information from the Tennessee Highway Patrol.
The driver of the semi, Edmund E. Wood, 57, of Madisonville, was not injured, the THP said. [Read more…]
Note: This story was updated at 11:15 a.m.
There was a fatal traffic crash involving a semi truck on Edgemoor Road at about 6 a.m. Wednesday, authorities said.
The crash closed a portion of Edgemoor Road between South Dogwood Road and Old Edgemoor Road near Clinton Highway. Traffic was rerouted in both directions down Old Edgemoor Road, said Mark Lucas, Anderson County Sheriff’s Department chief deputy.
He said motorists are being asked to avoid the area.
The crash is being investigated by the Tennessee Highway Patrol. Lucas said THP and Sheriff’s Department units remained on the scene throughout the morning, and it wasn’t clear how much longer they would be there. [Read more…]
