The Great Smoky Mountain Journal
Tuesday, January 01, 2019 03:01 PM
Oak Ridge Bookstore Raided By Crime Task Force Thursday Night
The Seventh Judicial District Crime Task Force along with deputies from the Anderson County Sheriff's Department surrounded the McGuire store in Oak Ridge on Thursday. The store advertises books, music, games, DVDs and electronics and is located on Illinois Avenue.
WVLT News saw five Penske moving trucks in the parking lot of the store along with law enforcement, some in plain clothes, packing up boxes inside. As of about 10:20 p.m. on Thursday night, the boxes were being loaded onto the trucks.
The exact nature of the task force's presence is not known at this time. The Anderson County Sheriff's Department said any formal information would be coming from the District Attorney, Dave Clark.
However, employees of McGuire Books say that the owner of the store is the proprietor of other East Tennessee businesses including one in Kingston.
Employees said the Kingston location was raided, along with the owner's home. According to employees, this isn't the first time one of the stores was at the center of an investigation. They said stolen items re-sold at the stores may have sparked the raid. They were unsure if they would have a job to report to in the coming days.
