Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, June 11, 1990 TAG: 9006110289
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A/1 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
A group of about 60 people quickly dispersed as police arrived at Melrose Avenue and 11th Street about 11:20 p.m. Sunday, police said today.
The beating was the latest and most serious incident involving large and volatile crowds that have congregated almost nightly on the 500 block of 11th Street.
At least six passing cars have been pelted with rocks and bottles hurled from the crowds in the past week.
When patrol officers arrived in the area late Sunday night, they saw a fight in progress involving two men and a large crowd.
Larry Wayne Ballard, 29, of Old Mountain Road Northeast was found lying unconscious on a sidewalk. His companion, Darin Edward Gauldin, 29, of Goff Road Northeast, told police that the two were walking home from a Salem Avenue nightclub when they became lost and were confronted by a crowd on 11th Street.
Gauldin told police that he and Ballard were beaten with a baseball bat and the fists of both men and women in the crowd.
Ballard was listed in very serious condition this morning at Roanoke Memorial Hospital; Gauldin's condition was stable.
Also on Sunday night in the 11th Street area, two young men were shot and wounded by a man who opened fire in a crowded nightclub.
Police said the man was ordered out of a bar by its management on the 600 block of 11th Street and returned a short time later with a revolver.
Patrons dived for cover as the man drew the gun from his pocket and began to fire, police said.
Anthony Wilson, 20, of Brooklyn, was shot in the buttocks. David Grant, 19, was struck in the left arm. Both were in satisfactory condition this morning at Community Hospital.
The gunman fled the scene in a large black car, witnesses told police. A short time later, police stopped the car on Salem Avenue Southwest and arrested the occupant.
Darryl Keith Mann of Ferncliff Avenue was charged with two counts of malicious wounding and use of a firearm, police said.
Police have received numerous reports from citizens whose cars have been struck by rocks and bottles as they drove through the area.
Many of the incidents happened early in the morning of June 3, when at least six cars were pelted with rocks and bottles within an hour.
Since then, there have been sporadic reports of bottle throwing and problems with large crowds that often spill out onto the street.
Authorities say one apparent source of the problem with crowds is Tasty's, a Caribbean restaurant at the corner of Moorman Road and 11th Street where many of the revelers gather.
Anthony Martone, assistant manager of a rental agency business on the street, said there is evidence almost every weekend of the disruptive gatherings.
"After a Saturday night, you can't drive anywhere," Martone said. "There's glass bottles broken everywhere."
Jack Powell, assistant special agent in charge of the regulatory division of the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, said the agency is concerned about possible violations at the nightspot.
"We are trying to do something about that place," Powell said. "We're monitoring what's going on up there."
As part of an organized crackdown by police in the area, dozens of patrol officers went into the area early Saturday morning in an attempt to restore order.
A portion of 11th Street that has been the most frequent site of problems - just around the corner from Tasty's - was closed to traffic. Police cars were stationed at almost every corner in surrounding blocks as authorities attempted to disperse the crowd.
But even with the increased police presence, at least one car was struck by bottle hurled by a youth standing just a few feet away.
by CNB