ROANOKE TIMES

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, June 14, 1990                   TAG: 9006140289
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-6   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: RON BROWN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium


SUSPECT ARRESTED IN ARMED ROBBERIES

A Bedford County man was charged Wednesday in a series of armed robberies in Roanoke, including one in which a convenience-store clerk was shot.

Samuel Lee Whorley, 22, of Route 1, Goodview, is accused of shooting Eddie Thomas Pritchard, a cashier at the Hop-In store at 931 Gus Nicks Blvd. on April 13.

Police said a man entered the store about 1:30 a.m., demanded money and shot several times, striking Pritchard in the upper left side. Although Pritchard was on his feet when police arrived, he was later treated at a hospital. His watch and $230 in cash were taken.

The crime had been listed as the crime of the month in May by Crime Line, which offers a $1,000 reward. Police acknowledged that Whorley's name was called in to Crime Line, but it was unclear whether that tip led to his arrest.

He faces charges of malicious wounding, armed robbery and use of firearm in the incident.

Whorley also was charged Wednesday with an April 17 armed robbery of $271 from a clerk at the Amoco Food Mart at 3348 Orange Ave. He was charged with the use of a firearm in that robbery, too.

He faces identical charges in connection with a robbery of the Pizza Inn at 3603 Franklin Road on New Year's Day.

Another man, William A. Taylor, had been charged earlier in connection with that robbery.

Roanoke detectives went to Bedford County on Tuesday to make the arrest. Whorley was being held Wednesday night in Roanoke City Jail in lieu of a $25,000 bond.

Pritchard's shooting was one of several violent incidents involving convenience-store clerks earlier this year.

One clerk shot and killed an armed robber and another shot at a fleeing bandit.

Pritchard was unarmed at the time he was robbed.



 by CNB