Police arrest 2nd suspect in armed home invasion robbery

KNOXVILLE - Police have arrested a second suspect in a May 18 home invasion armed robbery in which former University of Tennessee basketball player Ramar Smith is accused of taking $6,000 cash, a gun and a half-pound of marijuana.

A Tennessee Highway Patrol trooper stopped a vehicle just outside Lebanon, Tenn., on a traffic violation Monday and arrested Kaoun Kaihani, 23, who owned the car but was a passenger at the time of the stop.

Kaihani had been identified as a suspect in the aggravated robbery at the Steeplechase Apartments about 6:43 p.m. on May 18, according to Knoxville Police Department spokesman Darrell DeBusk.

Smith, 21, is charged with aggravated robbery in the Steeplechase heist. He turned himself in and is free on $15,000 bond.

Kaihani is being held on $50,000 bond at the Knox County Detention Facility.

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.

KPD spokesman Darrell DeBusk said today that "it's still undetermined if there's a connection" between that robbery and a May 19 shooting and robbery at a South Knoxville apartment complex, at which Tuckwiller was present.

The police report lists him as a witness to the shooting at the Woodlands Townhouses of Knoxville. Police earlier said UT football player Brent Vinson also was a witness to the shooting at Woodlands.

Victim Charles Austin Corn, 25, died Sunday at University of Tennessee Medical Center from injuries sustained during the shooting.

The report said that marijuana also was taken in the May 19 robbery.

DeBusk said last week that there could be "additional arrests" in conjunction with either or both crimes as the investigations move forward.

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.

More details as they develop online and in Wednesday's News Sentinel.