Ramar Smith
Former University of Tennessee basketball player Ramar Smith is accused of taking $6,000 in cash, a gun and a half-pound of marijuana during an armed home invasion robbery Monday night.
Smith, 21, is charged with aggravated robbery in connection with the heist at Steeplechase Apartments in North Knoxville, Knoxville Police Department spokesman Darrell DeBusk said.
Smith turned himself in Thursday and is free on $15,000 bond.
Police are trying to determine if the robbery is connected to a Tuesday night shooting at a South Knoxville apartment complex that left one person in critical condition.
"We interviewed him in great length (Thursday) morning," DeBusk said. "There could be additional arrests as the investigation moves forward."
According to court records, the victim, UT student Kinder Tuckwiller, said Smith came to his apartment to buy marijuana. He said while he was dealing with Smith, someone he didn't know entered the apartment with a handgun.
Smith grabbed Tuckwiller by the shoulders while the other suspect took cash, drugs and a gun, Tuckwiller told police.
Tuckwiller flagged down police to report he had been robbed and had fired a round from a shotgun in the air as the suspects left the parking lot, a report states.
Officers smelled "a strong smell of fresh cut marijuana" at Tuckwiller's apartment, records state.
Neighbors told officers two men fled the apartment with a backpack and large duffle bag. They also said they saw Tuckwiller run out and place a small object in a nearby storm drain. Crime lab officers recovered a blue pill bottle containing four pills believed to be oxycontin, the report states.
The Tuesday night shooting occurred at Woodlands Townhouses of Knoxville about 11:41 p.m., according to police. Charles Corn, age unavailable, suffered multiple gunshot wounds in his apartment, said DeBusk, who declined to say what type of firearm was used or where on his body Corn was shot. Corn was in critical condition Thursday at University of Tennessee Medical Center.
Smith, from Mount Clemens, Mich., was dismissed last year from the basketball team. Sources said Smith violated UT's substance abuse policy and had academic shortcomings.
Don Jacobs may be reached at 865-342-6345 and Chloe White at 865-342-6341.
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Comments » 18
belayvol writes:
At least that is a better picture. Still a doofus.
rocky_topper writes:
if he's out on bond, best make sure all your doors remain locked until he's put away!
pms151 writes:
Especially if you have a duffel bag full of maryjane and cash in your closet.
82cat writes:
IS there no honor among drug dealers and thieves anymore!
The reason the guy with Smith had the gun was because he had seen Smith shoot and as we all know Smith can't hit anything.
rocky_topper writes:
lol...amen to that 82!
hotrodvol writes:
Well that's just messed up! If I were a drug dealer with a lot of pot, cash, guns, pills and I just fired a gun in air, then the police would be the last people I would call. If Tuckwiller is a UT student, then he needs to be thrown out of school and into jail with Smith and his thug buddy.
give_him_6 writes:
LoL...Butt-Wheat is Dead!!! Who is this poser?? LMAO!!!
eb502us#225637 writes:
Well at least it was criminal vs. criminal. Doesn't sound like any innocent victims here.
w4tey#282182 writes:
Where does Vinson fit in ? Inside the apartment smoking and joking ?
byobbio writes:
Is this what we've come to?
MikeHamiltonFan writes:
I know first hand lots of athletes who while at UT smoked pot. I am frustrated by a system in which these young men are emulating the most successful role models in media. Dr. Dre and Snoop despite their love for sports never possessed the athletic ability of these young men...Jerry Green could have gone further if he could have communicated that while pot does not kill and you cannot overdose on it, it does hurt short term memory and it does lead to poor dietary choices and exacerbates laziness. I often wondered if the poor guys I knew who always had pot were being subsidized in their smokes by some Bama booster who sent a knoxville college boy a couple grand to come by Gibbs and deliver the sticky.
TrouserCough writes:
nice stash
vscebail#247785 writes:
So what!!! Why is this junk constantly reported on? Maybe I could see if he was still an athlete or even a student at UT - but now he is just an off the street thug. -- and what does John Chavis' son have to do with this web-site either?! --Newsflash to KNS: "Quit dragging my University down with this constant negative BS!!!"
Michael Vick just got out of prison, but I'll bet you won't be reading about it on Virginia Tech's web-site!
TommyJack writes:
Just hard to figure how this guy can stay on a cycle of destruction.
DandyVol writes:
I wonder if Ramar's defense will be the same as that Shaggy song "It wasn't me"?
And ... for the poor victim ... "Yes officers, I was simply breaking the law by selling an illegal drug when I was held up by these other criminals. Please recover my unregistered gun and stash for me."
I hope Pearl's recent talk to the graduating officers isn't to build a good relationship in order to get reduced sentences for his players. Hope we don't need this better relationship.
Fryinpansvols writes:
I'm glad he's not on the team anymore. Thug!
JSGJWG writes:
30 days in the hole, 30 days in the hole, seeds and dust that you got bust on, 30 days in the hole, thats what they give ya now, 30 days in the hole--------- great tune by humble pie that fits Ranmar to the T!!!!
Volumnus writes:
No is the answer. The UT staff walks over a lot of qualified intelligent kids to recruit and give scholarhips to Thugs. They hunted people to give a scholarship to, and made Skylar McBee walk on. They had a chance to replace Tanner Wild with a good kid who is smart enough to run the scout team like Tanner did and they passed after treating him with less than respect and truthfullness. Hammy needs to get these guys under control(the coaches) and instill in them that Duke and NC win with smart kids, with good morals and good values.
Pearl's recent lament about the "disadvantaged" kid being shut out by the APR, told us all we need to know about his recruiting views. He wants academic underachievers who are thugs because he thinks they are easier to manage than smart academically inclined athletes. Bad Practice. This is a red flag. Another is when your team has more ink than this newspaper and more rap songs on the net than Virgin Records; they just might be more interested in "self" than in basketball.
Next season will be no better than the last one. I am sorry to predict that. I long for Ray and Stu.
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