Loudon County, TN (WOKI) The Loudon County Sheriff’s Office together with several other agencies is actively searching for two teens they say jumped from a bridge during a police chase.
The incident occurred on a bridge on I-75 south between exits 76 and 72. The sheriff’s office says a chase with three teenage males ended last night when the suspects jumped off that bridge and into the Tennessee River.
Officials with the Tennessee Highway Patrol say troopers and the Sweetwater Police Department were involved in the chase, which involved a stolen car, at around 4:00 a.m. on Wednesday.
One teen is in custody, but there is an active search for the other two who jumped.
Authorities are asking anyone who sees suspicious activity, particularly in the Lake Drive area, or has any information to call the Loudon County Communication Center at 865-458-9081.
Other agencies assisting in the search include the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, Loudon Fire Department, Tellico Village Fire Department, Priority Ambulance Service and the Knox County Sheriff’s Office.
The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office says a man has been arrested and charged with attempted 1st degree murder following a hit and run accident involving a pedestrian.
Deputies were called to Wheeler Road in White Pine for vehicle crash and found a man lying in the road and they say the vehicle that hit him left the scene.
The man was flown by UT Lifestar to the hospital and is in critical but stable condition.
Investigators secured a warrant at a location on Main Street in White Pine where the suspect, 51 year-old James Locklear, and his vehicle were found and the search lead to his arrest.
He was taken to the Jefferson County Detention Center.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – No. 4/5 Tennessee got back in the win column with a 10-2 victory over Alabama State on Tuesday night at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
The Volunteers (29-4) scored eight of their 10 runs in the fourth inning to break open a scoreless game up until that point. Reese Chapman, Christ Newstrom and Dean Curley all homered in the inning to account for four of the eight runs.
AJ Russell started for the second consecutive midweek game and tossed two scoreless innings, striking out a pair while allowing just one hit as he continues to work his way back from offseason elbow surgery.
Newstrom continued his impressive stretch of games at the plate with a career night on Tuesday, finishing 3-for-5 with a run scored, a home run and four RBIs to lead the Vols offensively.
The freshman drove in three of UT’s eight runs in the fourth inning with a solo homer and a two-run double. Newstrom has now recorded multiple hits in each of his last four games played.
Grimmer Keeps Raking
Redshirt freshman Blake Grimmer made his third straight midweek start and provided Tennessee with another productive performance, going 2-for-3 with a pair of walks and two runs scored.
In those three midweek starts, Grimmer is 6-for-10 with five runs scored, two home runs and seven RBIs. The Spring Lake, Michigan, native also recorded his first-career SEC hit last weekend with a pinch-hit single in game one of Saturday’s doubleheader against Texas A&M.
Up Next
The Vols head back on the road for a top-10 series at No. 6 Ole Miss this weekend in Oxford. Friday’s opener is scheduled for a 7:30 p.m. ET start on SEC Network+ and the ESPN app.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – For the second consecutive season, the University of Tennessee men’s basketball team placed fifth in the year-end national polls.
Tennessee (30-8, 12-6) finished fifth in the country in both the Associated Press Top 25 Poll and the USA TODAY Coaches Poll, as announced Tuesday afternoon.
The Volunteers ascended one position on each list, as they started the NCAA Tournament sixth overall. Tennessee beat Wofford, UCLA and then-No. 18/21 Kentucky to advance to the Elite Eight for the second year in a row. Once there, it fell to Houston, an eventual NCAA finalist.
Tennessee’s fifth-place finish in the AP Poll matches a program previously record in 2023-24, 2021-22 and 2007-08. This is the second time the Associated Press has released a year-end poll after the NCAA Tournament, as the final poll from 1948-49 through 2022-23 came beforehand. The Volunteers have finished fifth in both iterations of the post-NCAA Tournament AP Poll.
Meanwhile, the Volunteers’ fifth-place spot in the Coaches Poll—the outlet has traditionally released a ranking after the NCAA Tournament—ties the program record set just last season, in 2023-24. Before this two-year stretch, their top mark was seventh in 2007-08.
The Volunteers were one of only four teams to rank in the top 12 of the AP Poll and/or Coaches Poll the entire season, alongside Alabama, Auburn and Duke. One of five teams to hold the AP No. 1 position this year, Tennessee spent five weeks atop the list, tied with Kansas for the second-most of any team.
Tennessee notched 11 AP top-10 placements in 2024-25, passing the nine it had last season for its second-most ever in a single campaign. That figure trails only the 14 it posted in 2018-19.
This is the 18th consecutive AP top-10 ranking for the Volunteers—all were in the top eight—dating to Nov. 25, 2024. That is the second-longest streak in program history, behind only the 20-week ledger in 2018-19. All three marks in program of 15-plus weeks are over the last seven years under the direction of head coach Rick Barnes.
In total, Tennessee is in the AP top 10 for the 76th time in Barnes’ 10 seasons, all since 2017-18, after it earned 28 AP top-10 nods in the 14 years (2001-15) before his hiring. The Volunteers have garnered an AP top-10 ranking in 37 of the 42 AP Poll releases over the past two seasons, including a top-eight spot in 33 of the past 36.
Over the last 58 AP Poll announcements—that extends back to Nov. 28, 2022—Tennessee has collected a top-15 spot in 55 of them, all but three.
The Volunteers are in the AP top 25 for the 80th straight week, a tally that spans four full campaigns, since the 2021-22 preseason poll. That figure is 43 above the previous program record of 37 weeks, set March 1999 to Feb. 2001. Tennessee’s 80-week streak is the second-best active mark in the nation, behind only Houston (106). No other school is at even 60-plus, while the closest SEC team is fifth-place Kentucky with a 42-week count that is 38 behind the Volunteers.
Tennessee concluded the year with 1,220 points in the AP Poll balloting and 621 in the Coaches Poll voting.
The Volunteers are one of eight SEC teams in the year-end rankings, four of which are in the top six. They are joined by top-ranked Florida, fourth-ranked Auburn, sixth-ranked Alabama, No. 12/14 Kentucky, No. 18 Ole Miss, No. 19 Texas A&M and No. 20/25 Arkansas.
In addition to coming in at fifth in the AP Poll and Coaches Poll, the Volunteers finished fifth on KenPom.com to tie the program-best mark set in 2023-24. Tennessee also ranked fifth on Haslametrics.com, fifth on ESPN BPI, sixth on BartTorvik.com, sixth on ESPN SOR and seventh on EvanMiya.com. This is the second season in a row Tennessee placed top-seven on all those lists.
To keep up with the University of Tennessee men’s basketball team on social media, follow @Vol_Hoops on Instagram and X/Twitter, as well as /tennesseebasketball on Facebook.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee pitcher Karlyn Pickens has earned back-to-back NFCA and SEC Pitcher of the Week honors, marking the first time in program history a Lady Vol has claimed national weekly recognition in consecutive weeks.
Pickens, a junior right-hander, dominated No. 17 Mississippi State in a series win, securing two victories while allowing just six base runners over 10 innings. She recorded 10 strikeouts and threw two complete-game shutouts to improve her season record to 15-4. She opened with a four-hit shutout (6 K, 0 BB) in game one and closed out the series with a one-hitter, fanning four and walking one. Pickens now has five shutouts on the season. Her stellar performance lowered her ERA to 0.94, the best in the SEC and fourth in the nation.
This marks Pickens’ second NFCA Pitcher of the Week award and her eighth SEC weekly honor in her decorated career.
Tennessee returns to the diamond this weekend as it takes on No. 1 Texas April 11-13 in Austin.
Two people are facing charges after they allegedly vandalized Lakeshore Park.
Knoxville Police and staff at Lakeshore Park say several people were caught on security video jumping the playground fence and spray painting inappropriate images and words on the slide and sidewalk last month.
KPD say the suspects are 20-year-old Victoria White and 19-year-old Austin Rogers, both of Loudon.
White and Rogers have both been charged with one count of vandalism and are scheduled to appear in court on June 3.
Two people are facing charges after they allegedly vandalized Lakeshore Park.
Knoxville Police and staff at Lakeshore Park say several people were caught on security video jumping the playground fence and spray painting inappropriate images and words on the slide and sidewalk last month.
KPD say the suspects are 20-year-old Victoria White and 19-year-old Austin Rogers, both of Loudon.
White and Rogers have both been charged with one count of vandalism and are scheduled to appear in court on June 3.
The Knoxville Smokies will take to the diamond inside Covenant Health Park on April 15th, marking a new era of baseball in East Tennessee.
Covenant Health Park, a joint venture by the Smokies, City of Knoxville, and Knox County, was built with the intention to bring baseball back to Knoxville and connect East Knoxville to downtown.
Yesterday (Tuesday), a crowd gathered outside the third base gate, known as Giants Landing, and watched as seven statues were unveiled as part of a ceremony honoring Black baseball in Knoxville.
The spot along Jackson Avenue where the new ballpark sits was historically a Black neighborhood.
The statues, created by master sculptor Brian Hanlon, highlight the Knoxville Giants of the Negro Southern League, the Knoxville Smokies and the first Little League program offered to Black children in Knoxville before integration.
The seven statues honor the likes of builders and players both.
Jerry Benjamin – A three-time All-Star outfielder in the Negro Leagues. Benjamin played his first season with the Knoxville Giants.
William M. Brooks – A founding executive member of the Negro Southern League, Brooks was the first Manager of the Knoxville Giants in 1920. He also taught at Austin High School and Green School.
Claude “Steel Arm” Dickey – A pitcher for the Knoxville Giants during the inaugural year in 1920, Dickey was a native of East Tennessee and known as “Pride of the South.”
Forrest “One Wing” Maddox, – Maddox was a pitcher and outfielder for the Giants in 1920. Some say he was the league’s first batting champion, despite losing his left arm to amputation when he was 10.
William Nathaniel “Nat” Rogers – A veteran outfielder, Rogers joined the Knoxville Giants in 1946, making history as the oldest active player in organized baseball at age 52.
“Big Jim” Tugerson – Top pitcher, Tugerson, while fighting racial injustice in the Deep South, played in the Mountain States League, integrating the 1953 Knoxville Smokies with an unmatched record of 29 regular season wins and an additional four playoff wins for the league championship. His brother also pitched for the Smokies.
Payne Avenue Little League – In 1951, Knoxville established its first Little League baseball team of Black children at the Payne Avenue Recreation Center on the hill next to Green School. The center was named after Richard “Uncle Dick” Payne, Knoxville’s first Black businessman.
McMinn County Sheriff Joe Guy says deputies caught five burglars in the act at Sweetwater Airsoft.
Police were called to the business on County Road 275 Monday for a report of a theft in progress and found a Ford F-150 with two suspects inside, and as more deputies arrived, they found three more suspects at the corner of the property.
18 year-old Joshua Weber, 20 year-old James Whitner, 19 year-old Blake Fisher, 24 year-old Paiden Davis and a 17 year-old were taken into custody.
Guy says the stolen items were returned to the business owners as they were recovered.
Joshua Weber, 18, of Vonore
Two counts of burglary
Two counts of theft over $1,000
$56,000 bond
James Whitner, 20, of Sweetwater
Felony burglary
Theft over $2,500
$56,000 bond
Blake Fisher, 19, of Athens
Conspiracy to commit burglary
$5,000 bond
Paiden Davis, 24, of Vonore
Conspiracy to commit burglary
$10,000 bond
17-year-old juvenile
Charged separately through juvenile court
(L-R) Joshua Weber, James Whitmer, Blake Fisher, Paiden Davis(MCSO)
“It appeared that Weber and the juvenile had been to the Airsoft business at some time before and had returned the night before with Whitner, Davis and Fisher and burglarized it,” said Guy. “They returned the next night to do the same. Weber, Whitner and the juvenile broke in while Davis and Fisher waited outside in the truck. Several of the airsoft guns and other accessories had been hidden in the nearby woods, and deputies were able to locate those and others the thieves had taken to the homes of Webber and the juvenile in Monroe County. Those were later recovered from both locations with the assistance of Monroe County Sheriff’s deputies.”
Guy said the stolen items were returned to the business owners as they were recovered.
McMinn County Sheriff Joe Guy says deputies caught five burglars in the act at Sweetwater Airsoft.
Police were called to the business on County Road 275 Monday for a report of a theft in progress and found a Ford F-150 with two suspects inside, and as more deputies arrived, they found three more suspects at the corner of the property.
18 year-old Joshua Weber, 20 year-old James Whitner, 19 year-old Blake Fisher, 24 year-old Paiden Davis and a 17 year-old were taken into custody.
Guy says the stolen items were returned to the business owners as they were recovered.
Joshua Weber, 18, of Vonore
Two counts of burglary
Two counts of theft over $1,000
$56,000 bond
James Whitner, 20, of Sweetwater
Felony burglary
Theft over $2,500
$56,000 bond
Blake Fisher, 19, of Athens
Conspiracy to commit burglary
$5,000 bond
Paiden Davis, 24, of Vonore
Conspiracy to commit burglary
$10,000 bond
17-year-old juvenile
Charged separately through juvenile court
(L-R) Joshua Weber, James Whitmer, Blake Fisher, Paiden Davis(MCSO)
“It appeared that Weber and the juvenile had been to the Airsoft business at some time before and had returned the night before with Whitner, Davis and Fisher and burglarized it,” said Guy. “They returned the next night to do the same. Weber, Whitner and the juvenile broke in while Davis and Fisher waited outside in the truck. Several of the airsoft guns and other accessories had been hidden in the nearby woods, and deputies were able to locate those and others the thieves had taken to the homes of Webber and the juvenile in Monroe County. Those were later recovered from both locations with the assistance of Monroe County Sheriff’s deputies.”
Guy said the stolen items were returned to the business owners as they were recovered.
