Tennessee

Cops accused of standing by and watching man drown in Tennessee River

Published

1 year ago

July 31, 2023

Cops accused of standing by and watching man drown in Tennessee River

Police officers allegedly stood by and watched for 15 minutes as a man who relapsed on heroin drowned in the Tennessee River after fleeing from them, according to a newly filed lawsuit.

Kimberly Williams-Clabo claims her son, Mika Wheeler Clabo, would still be alive if it weren’t for the alleged negligence of the Knoxville Police Department, which encountered him “acting erratically” on the morning of July 25, 2022.

Police said that when they approached Clabo, 30, who struggled with a heroin addiction, he ran from them and jumped into the river, where he got caught on vines and drowned.

In a lawsuit filed Tuesday in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, Williams-Clabo said the four officers at the scene “refused to make a single rescue attempt and inexplicably warned off private rescuers, resulting in the victim’s death by drowning.”

She is suing the officers, as well as the police chief, for violating her son’s civil rights and for wrongful death.

“Mika deserved better than what he got … from people who were supposed to be first responders,” the family’s lawyer, Lance Baker, told the Washington Post. “The first responders were essentially bystanders looking on.”

Mika Wheeler Clabo, 30, drowned in the Tennessee River on July 25, 2022.

Family handout

Police where at the scene in downtown Knoxville after Clabo jumped in the river. — Police at the scene in downtown Knoxville after Clabo jumped in the river.

The Knoxville Police Department denied the allegations and said its officers followed proper protocol during the incident.

“While Mika Clabo’s death was undoubtedly tragic, the KPD officers involved did not respond inappropriately, and the city will vigorously defend this lawsuit,” the department said in a statement.

“The officers immediately called for assistance from additional specialized resources, and any suggestion that they prevented reasonable or safe attempts to rescue Mr. Clabo is not supported by the facts.”

Just four days before his death, Williams-Clabo had reported her son missing after he left a halfway house in the city. Clabo had been working on his sobriety for years but had suddenly relapsed.

Police received calls about the man after residents spotted Clabo being kicked out of a car in the city’s downtown area around 10 a.m. July 25, 2022, wearing only a T-shirt and underwear, according to the suit.

Clabo and his mother, Kimberly Williams-Clabo, smiling in an undated picture. — Clabo and his mother, Kimberly Williams-Clabo, in an undated picture.

Responding officers found Clabo wandering a nearby railroad track, but when they approached him, the man fled and jumped into the river at about 10:14 a.m.

The officers called the Knoxville Fire Department for rescue and instructed him to swim to shore. The lawsuit states that one of the cops scoffed at the idea that Clabo was drowning.

The suit alleges that the officers just stood by as Clabo struggled to stay above water and screamed for help. It also claims that police warned concerned residents to stay away and not help the drowning man because they could get caught in the vines as well.

Clabo worked as an arborist before suffering from his heroin addiction.

By 10:27 a.m., Clabo’s head vanished underwater, with the cops allegedly only commenting on it while not knowing what to do.

“[The officers] acted with no urgency whatsoever throughout the incident to respond to the life-or-death situation,” the lawsuit reads.

When the rescue boat arrived three minutes later, officials combed the area and found the man’s body tangled in vines mere inches below the surface.

Williams-Clabo is arguing for $1.5 million in compensatory damages and $2.5 million in punitive damages.

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Tennessee

No. 6 Tennessee vs. Vanderbilt: Game information, lineups, notes

Published

4 hours ago

January 18, 2025

Press Room

No. 6 Tennessee vs. Vanderbilt: Game information, lineups, notes

Tennessee looked like its old self Wednesday. Now it has to try and do it on the road for the third time in four games.

The No. 6 Vols turned one of their worst halves of basketball this season into one of their most dominant over the last 20 minutes in an 18-point win over Georgia earlier this week, using a stellar takeover from Zakai Zeigler to get back to winning convincingly after losing on the road at Florida and coming from behind to beat Texas late.

TALK ABOUT IT IN THE ROCKY TOP FORUM

Tennessee (16-1, 3-1 SEC) did it against an improved Georgia team vying for a spot in the NCAA Tournament, a similar kind of situation Vanderbilt will be in when it hosts the Vols at Memorial Gym in Nashville on Saturday (3:30 p.m. ET, SEC Network).

The Commodores (14-3, 2-2), like the rest of the league, offer up a challenge that Tennessee can’t afford to overlook and after using a shot in the final seconds to beat South Carolina a few days ago, beating the Vols on their home floor would double as a signature win in head coach Mark Byington’s first season and a major resume booster.

To avoid becoming either of those, Tennessee will need to match the way it played in the second half against Georgia, avoid turnovers against a Vanderbilt team that thrives on forcing a lot of them and for Chaz Lanier to get out of his shooting slump.

Here is everything you need to know about the match up.

GAME INFORMATION

Who: No. 6 Tennessee (16-1, 3-1 SEC) at Vanderbilt (14-3, 2-2)

When: Saturday, Jan. 18 | 3:30 p.m. ET

Where: Memorial Gymnasium | Nashville

TV: SEC Network (Roy Philpott, play-by-play; Dane Bradshaw, analyst)

Radio: Vol Network (Bob Kesling, play-by-play; Bert Bertelkamp, analyst)

Series: 208th meeting all-time (Tennessee leads, 131-76)

Line: Tennessee -7.5

KenPom Projection: Tennessee 74, Vanderbilt 67

PROJECTED LINEUPS

No. 6 Tennessee (16-1, 3-1 SEC)

Vanderbilt (14-3, 2-2 SEC)

NUMBERS EDGE

POINTS PER GAME

Vanderbilt 82.4

Tennessee 76.9

FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE

Vanderbilt 47.1%

Tennessee 46.0%

THREE-POINT PERCENTAGE

Tennessee 34.3%

Vanderbilt 32.3%

MORE FROM VOLREPORT: Why Jahmai Mashack was ‘spectacular’ for Vols in win over Georgia

ASSISTS

Tennessee 16.1

Vanderbilt 14.9

REBOUNDS

Tennessee 39.4

Vanderbilt 35.9

BLOCKS

Tennessee 5.2

Vanderbilt 4.5

PREGAME NOTES

— Tennessee has held the sizable edge in its long-standing series with Vanderbilt, both historically and recently. The Vols’ 131 all-time wins over the Commodores are the most against any opponent in program history and they have won 13 of the last 14 match ups.

— Tennessee is ranked coming into this game for the 13th time in the last 15 meetings and ranked inside the top 10 for the fifth-straight time. The Vols are 23-8 vs. Vanderbilt in games where they are ranked and the Commodores are not.

— Tennessee guard Zakai Zeigler is coming off of a record-breaking performance against Georgia. The senior guard sparked the Vols’ second half scoring burst, finishing with 16 points, including five-made 3-pointers while his career-high six steals put him in first place in career steals at 215, passing former teammate Santiago Vescovi (212).

MORE FROM VOLREPORT: Vols freshman Bishop Boswell is ‘what this program’s about’

— Tennessee ranks fourth nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency, according to KenPom. The Vols are allowing just 88.2 points per opponents 100 offensive possession, while their 57.8 points allowed per game rank first in the SEC and third in Division I college basketball.

— Vanderbilt has had a lot of success forcing turnovers in its first 17 games. The Commodores are forcing turnovers on more than 23% of their opponents possessions while their 179 total steals lead the SEC. Vanderbilt had 15 steals and forced 25 turnovers in its 66-63 win over South Carolina on Wednesday.

— Vanderbilt hired Mark Byington away from James Madison last offseason and the first-year Commodores coach filled the roster with transfers. Ten players are in their first season at Vanderbilt after beginning their careers elsewhere, including guard Jason Edwards (North Texas), who leads the team in scoring with 17.0 points per game.

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Tennessee

Tennessee Titans hire long-time Chiefs executive as GM

Published

12 hours ago

January 18, 2025

Press Room

Tennessee Titans hire long-time Chiefs executive as GM

The Tennessee Titans hired Mike Borgonzi as their General Manager on Friday evening. A former four-time All-Ivy league fullback at Brown, he spent from 2009-2024 with the Kansas City Chiefs. Borgonzi worked under Scott Pioli, John Dorsey, and Brett Veach during his time in Kansas City.

Borgonzi and the Titans agreed to a five-year deal, which will put him in Nashville until 2029, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN. He goes from aiming for a three-peat with the Chiefs to now having the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.

Titans controlling owner Amy Adams Strunk delivered a statement on Borgonzi. “Mike’s experience speaks for itself: he has been part of the core team that delivered four AFC championships and three Super Bowls over the past five seasons,” she said. “It’s the type of standard I want to build here in Tennessee. I know we have a lot of work ahead of us, and I’m excited for Mike to get started.”

Borgonzi has a very close relationship with Titans President of Football Operations Chad Brinker. “During Mike’s 16 years in the league, he has been a key part of transforming the Chiefs from a two-win team to a three-time Super Bowl champion,” Brinker said. “During our meetings, he articulated a clear plan to build a championship standard in Nashville through consistency, discipline, and hard work. I’ve admired him for many years, and I’m thrilled to add him to the team as our general manager.”

Borgonzi started with the Chiefs in 2009 and worked for several years in their scouting department. He was the director of player personnel in 2015 and their director of football operations in 2018. Over the span of those two promotions, the Chiefs became one of the league’s most consistent contenders. Soon after that, they became the most dominant team in the National Football League, with Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes fueling their ascension to the top.

Brinker and the Titans conducted 10 initial interviews for the position between Jan. 10-13.

The Titans were one of three GM vacancies this offseason, along with the New York Jets and Las Vegas Raiders.

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Tennessee

Duke transfer running back Star Thomas recaps Tennessee visit

Published

20 hours ago

January 17, 2025

Press Room

Duke transfer running back Star Thomas recaps Tennessee visit

Duke transfer running back Star Thomas has spent the last 24 hours in Knoxville visiting Tennessee. After the trip, Volquest caught up with him to discuss where things stand in his recruitment.

“I enjoyed everything about it,” Thomas said. “Really the coaches and how everything was organized. How they were just honest and true about everything. I really loved it and loved everything about it and Knoxville so we shall see.”

He was able to spend time with running backs coach De’Rail Sims and those two talked about how he would fit into the running back room and the offense.

“He was real and honest about a lot of things,” Thomas said, “He didn’t sugarcoat anything. That’s what I want to be around my last year. Just being around it and seeing there is no faking. It was real from the start.”

So where do things go from here for Thomas? He has no other trips planned after visiting UCF and Tennessee. He loved what he found on Rocky Top.

“Really just relationships and being around the coaches,” Thomas said. “Getting to know coach Heupel, funny guy and being around the running back coach. Just being around the staff and they really showed they liked me and wanted me.”

Watch the full interview below.

Understanding the portal

The winter transfer portal window runs from December 9-28. The spring portal window runs from April 16-25.

Players don’t have to pick a school they are going to during those specific dates but those are the span of dates on when a player can enter the portal.

Those dates don’t apply to graduate transfers who can enter the portal whenever they wish. Also, if there’s a head coaching change, their players are granted an immediate 30-day window during which they can enter the portal.

Of note, any team playing in a game after Dec 28 (playoffs or regular bowl) gets a five-day window once season ends for those player to enter portal.

So, say a team loses in the CFP first round on Dec 20/21? Their transfer portal window wouldn’t be affected as the regular window ends more than five days after that loss.

Players who enter the portal in the winter window are trying to be somewhere for the spring semester.

For Tennessee the spring semester starts on January 21which is late compared to many schools around the country. Tennessee a year ago started a winter mini-term class that runs the first three weeks of January.

Tennessee has benefitted from the portal

The transfer portal can giveth and it can taketh away. For Josh Heupel it’s been much more of a positive than a negative for the Vols when you look at the 2024 season.

Left tackle Lance Heard has been a fixture on an offense line that has helped the Vols rush for over 2700 yards. Tight end Miles Kitselman has been a terrific portal grab because he is the leader of the tight end room. A room that also includes transfer Holden Staes.

Defensively, Jermod McCoy has been the best transfer Tennessee has gotten. McCoy is having an All-American season.

In total, Tennessee added 10 transfers for the current 2024 roster.

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