THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 

              Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.



DATE: Thursday, February 6, 1997            TAG: 9702060345

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B3   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY STEVE STONE, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   51 lines

HUNCH PAYS OFF: POLICE ARREST SUSPECT SOUGHT IN A CASE IN WHICH A POLICE DOG WAS KILLED, THE MAN WAS ARRESTED IN FLORIDA.

When James L. Madison showed up to pay his respects to a deceased friend in Florida on Wednesday, he had no idea someone else was watching - for him.

Broward County officers arrested Madison, 21, of Norfolk, and are holding him in connection with a home invasion a week ago that left his friend and a police dog dead after a shootout with police.

Madison is charged in Norfolk with one count of armed burglary in the night, two counts of abduction, two counts of attempted robbery and four counts of using a gun while committing a felony.

Extradition proceedings have begun, but Norfolk police spokesman Larry Hill said it was unclear Wednesday how soon Madison would be returned to Virginia.

Police had been looking for him since early on Jan. 30, when officers answered a burglary call at a townhouse in the 7200 block of N. Rosemont Drive in the Oakmont North section.

A 39-year-old woman and her 18-year-old daughter were home when two men forced their way in, police said. The women hid in the house but were eventually found by the intruders. The younger woman got away and called police.

When K-9 officer Jim Losee and his partner, Iron, arrived, the suspects fled.

Losee and Iron gave chase, and the dog was just about to jump one of the men, 20-year-old Oren Harrison, when he turned and fired his gun several times.

The dog was struck and killed. Losee, who was not hit, returned fire. Harrison was hit, but continued to run for about 200 yards before collapsing. He died a short time later.

Harrison was wanted for armed first-degree murder, sexual battery, kidnapping and burglary by Miami's Metro/Dade County Police.

The second suspect got away, however, despite an intense police hunt of the area.

Earlier this week, Harrison's body was returned to Broward County, Fla., for his funeral. On Wednesday afternoon, family and friends gathered at a funeral home.

Norfolk police, playing a hunch, asked their counterparts in Broward County to check out who attended the viewing.

Officials sent undercover officers who specialize in nabbing fugitives to the the viewing. Sure enough, at 3:30 p.m., they spotted their man. Madison was arrested without incident.

He is being held without bond in the Broward County jail on fugitive warrants until his extradition.

KEYWORDS: ARREST BURGLARY EXTRADITION