ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, April 7, 1997 TAG: 9704070043
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DIANE STRUZZI THE ROANOKE TIMES
Michael Furrow, 22, was charged with stealing six cars in Roanoke during a three-week spree.
Michael Furrow became a thief nearly a decade ago, when he was barely a teen-ager.
As he walked down a street in Southwest Roanoke, he spotted an open car window. Inside, a stereo sat within reach.
"And I thought, 'Easy money,'" he recalled.
Within five minutes, he had cut the wires and ripped the stereo from the console. The next day, he sold it for about $50.
Soon, he began stealing about twice a month to get extra cash.
As a 19-year-old, Furrow was sentenced to two years in prison for grand larceny.
When he was released last spring, he got a job loading trucks in Northeast Roanoke. He vowed that things would be different, he said.
But in March, police charged Furrow with stealing six cars in Roanoke during a three-week spree. Detectives also are investigating Furrow in connection with about 60 car break-ins.
"I don't deny what I'm being charged with," Furrow, 22, said during a telephone interview from the Roanoke jail last week.
"I done it. But the crack cocaine had control of me. I used to go out and steal cars...[because] that crack cocaine got a hold of me."
Furrow has not been convicted and is scheduled for a preliminary hearing Wednesday.
Last summer, life went awry for Furrow. He and his girlfriend split soon after his release from prison, and he bought some crack to ease the pain. Immediately, he said, he was hooked. He quit his job. And, soon, he needed fast, easy cash.
By the time of his arrest, he was consuming $1,000 a day in crack cocaine - about 50 rocks, he said.
He stayed at his brother's home on Chapman Avenue Southwest, often returning too late to knock on the door. So he fashioned a makeshift bunker underneath the porch. He'd catch a few hours of sleep and once again start the cycle of buying drugs and stealing, he said.
Furrow worked the streets alone, at night, looking for anything valuable in vehicles. He would choose a neighborhood and walk the blocks - flashlight in hand - peering into the interior of vehicles.
"How easy is it? Let me tell you," Furrow said. "How easy is it to chew a piece of gum? You just have to know what you're doing. Wear gloves. Leave no fingerprints. You don't want nobody to see you in the car."
If the vehicle was locked, he'd break the window. If he found keys inside, he'd take the vehicle to transport his stolen merchandise.
To safeguard against thieves, hide anything valuable out of sight, he said. If there's a detachable face plate on a custom-installed sound system, take it before leaving the vehicle. And get an alarm - one of the few protective devices that deterred him, he said.
Police caught Furrow in part because of his mistake.
One night, he took off his gloves because they were too cumbersome. The fingerprint he left behind on the license plate of a stolen vehicle was one of the clues that led investigators to him.
Now he is facing six grand larceny charges; each carries a maximum penalty of 20 years. Incarceration offers a chance to get drug free, he said.
But, he said, he knows the memory of the crack high will be right by his side.
"I still will want to do crack cocaine," he said. "If I get out and get a job, I'll go the right route."
And to others like himself, he has some advice: "If you ain't got caught yet, stop while you're ahead."
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