Alcoa, TN (WOKI) The Alcoa Police Department is searching for multiple arson suspects after a porch fire on North Linden Street.
APD officials say home surveillance cameras caught the suspects, whom they believe to be juveniles, lighting a bag on fire and throwing it onto the porch of a house on North Linden.
APD says a red truck seen in the video is suspected to be the vehicle in which the suspects drove up to the house and then fled the scene.
You can view the entire surveillance footage here.
Those with information or additional video footage regarding the incident are asked to email Lieutenant Sparks at [email protected] or submit an anonymous tip to East Tennessee Valley Crime Stoppers at (865) 215-7165.
APD believes multiple juvenile suspects were involved in lighting a bag on fire and throwing it on the porch of a house on North Linden. (Courtesy: APD)
UPDATE: The latest update by TDOT on Saturday just before 4 p.m., in on ‘X’; Mark Nagi with TDOT posts US 129 “The Dragon” is now back open.
Blount County, TN (WOKI) A stretch of The Dragon, also known as U.S. 129 and a popular route for drivers in Blount County, has been closed because of a wildfire.
The Tennessee Department of Transportation shut down the road Friday afternoon from the state line to the Chilhowee Dam.
Officials with the Blount County Sheriff’s Office echoing TDOT saying the 11 mile stretch would be closed for an extended time as the fire, which broke out this morning, had jumped the roadway.
There is no word yet on the size or scope of the fire.
Stretch of The Dragon closed due to grass fire, TDOT says.
Maryville, TN (WVLT) Kenneth DeHart Jr., the man accused of shooting two Blount County Sheriff’s Office deputies in February, injuring one and killing the other, could face the death penalty.
The state filed two notices Friday, one seeking the death penalty, saying it will seek the death penalty in the case, which began at the start of the year when DeHart was taken into custody.
According to BCSO, Deputies Shelby Eggers and Greg McCowan stopped DeHart after he was found to be driving erratically. During the stop, the situation escalated, and DeHart shot both deputies, injuring Eggers and killing McCowan, BCSO said.
DeHart was also the subject of a five-day manhunt following the shooting. Several agencies assisted in the search, including the U.S. Marshals, Knoxville Police Department, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and more. DeHart was taken into custody at a Knoxville home following the search.
Following the state’s filing, DeHart’s own legal representative, Stephen Ross Johnson of Ritchie, Davies, Johnson & Stovall, P.C., filed his own motion claiming there were issues in DeHart’s preliminary hearing in February.
Johnson claimed in the filing that DeHart had requested to attain his own counsel, but was not given enough time between his arrest and his preliminary hearing to do so. Johnson said it cost DeHart the chance to adequately seek bail and “move to suppress unconstitutionally obtained evidence” in his case.
After he was taken into custody, Sheriff James Lee Berrong commented, saying DeHart should face the death penalty for his actions.
Also charged in connection to the shooting are DeHart’s girlfriend, Carrie Matthews, DeHart’s brother, Marcus DeHart and a man identified as Maurice Warren. All three of them were charged with accessory after the fact, BCSO said, for assisting DeHart while he was on the run.
In April, DeHart was indicted on 21 counts related to the case.
Kenneth DeHart’s first court appearance. (Courtesy: WVLT)
An 11 year-old girl in Sevierville is battling a rare virus from mosquitoes.
According to the CDC, less than 100 people in the US are infected with the La Crosse virus each year, with most of the cases coming from kids 16 or under.
Brynlee Henderson is one of only a few in the state who’s been infected so far in 2024. Her symptoms started on August 31st while her family was vacationing in South Carolina, when headaches, fevers, and extreme light sensitivity continued, the family came home and went to East Tennessee Children’s Hospital. Doctors told the family they believed Brynlee had been infected with the rare virus.
Routine things like eating, drinking, and communicating clearly have been a struggle for the Brynlee due to brain swelling. She was released from the hospital yesterday (Thursday) but will likely have lingering effects from the La Crosse virus.
A McMinn County man is facing felony charges for making school threats.
The McMinn County Sheriff’s Office says 44-year-old Joshua Webb after they were told a man near Niota Elementary School had made the threat. A Department of Homeland Security agent responded to Webb’s house on County Road 255.
Webb is facing three charges of threats of mass violence, which is a felony in Tennessee.
School threats and arrests continue in Knox County Schools.
The Knox County Sheriff’s Office responding to five school threats yesterday (Thursday) morning. A twelve-year-old seventh-grade female student from Cedar Bluff Middle was arrested for threats of mass violence, a twelve-year-old Gibbs middle school female student was arrested for false reports and an 11-year-old, Hardin Valley Middle School female student has been arrested for Threats of Mass Violence.
The Knox County Sheriff’s Fire and Explosive investigation unit, along with Juvenile Detectives investigating a trash can that was intentionally set on fire at South Doyle High School arrest a 14-year-old male student at the school for Attempted Aggravated Arson, setting fire to personal property, and vandalism.
Several law enforcement agencies in Roane, Morgan and Loudon Counties are investigating a string of school threats, with several students being taken into custody.
District Attorney General Russell Johnson says waves of posts on social media speculate about what happened at Rockwood High School this week. A person or group of people have been circulating two “vague and non-specific” posts threatening violence at Rockwood High School, but those posts are four years old by a troubled child.
Johnson also said the person or group who’s dredging up the old posts likely have some animosity towards Roane County law enforcement.
The DA says a Wartburg Elementary School student was charged Wednesday for statements they made in class and a Roane County High School student was charged for making their own statements. Two Cherokee Middle School students were charged, one made a verbal threat and the other falsely reported a threat last week.
Knoxville, TN (WOKI A 14-year-old South Doyle High School student is facing serious charges following a fire Thursday afternoon in a trash can at the school.
Deputies and juvenile detectives responded around 2:00 p.m. to the trash fire; officials said they believed it was set intentionally.
A 14-year-old boy was arrested later in the day in connection to the fire; he is facing charges of attempted aggravated arson, setting fire to personal property, and vandalism.
A 14-year-old boy is facing multiple charges in connection to the incident Thursday, KCSO said. (Frankly Media)
(Knoxville, TN- WOKI / KPD) 47-year-old Antonio Fontaine, of Memphis, has been charged with five counts of aggravated assault as well as one count of felony reckless endangerment following a shots fired incident that happened on Clinton Highway late Wednesday night.
At around 10:50 p.m. on Wednesday, September 11, 2024, Knoxville Police Department officers responded to a report that a man was firing a gun at multiple people. Responding officers quickly located the man, since identified as Fontaine, in the parking lot of the McDonald’s at 6715 Clinton Highway. Fontaine, who was armed with a loaded handgun, was immediately taken into custody.
An employee of the McDonald’s reported that he heard five or six shots being fired and also saw Fontaine fire shots into the McDonald’s. Fontaine also allegedly pointed his firearm at multiple McDonald’s employees as they attempted to run from the store to safety. No injuries were reported in the shooting.
It is believed that Fontaine was involved in a domestic-related shooting prior to his arrival at the McDonald’s. No injuries were reported in that shooting, which remains under investigation by KPD detectives.
Fontaine, a previously convicted felon, was also charged with possession of a weapon by a convicted felon in addition to the five counts of aggravated assault and one count of reckless endangerment. Additional or upgraded charges are possible as the investigation progresses.
A Jefferson County is facing charges after the sheriff’s office says he went on a multi-county burglary string.
The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office says 48-year-old Christopher Driggers was taken into custody after deputies were called to Lakeside Drive in White Pine for a burglary call, where a neighbor told them they had seen a U-Haul truck in the area. That neighbor reportedly had pictures of the truck, which investigators used to track down who had rented it: Driggers.
JCSO investigators and detectives from the Cocke County Sheriff’s Office went to a home in Newport, where they found Driggers and several of the stolen items.
Investigators say items were taken from not only the burglary on Lakeside Drive, but three other jurisdictions. “These items were taken from not only the burglary on Lakeside Drive, but three other jurisdictions which included the Cocke and Sevier County Sheriff’s Offices and the Pittman Center Police Department,” JCSO said.
Driggers is being held at the Jefferson County Detention Center on a $100,000 bond.
