ESCAPEE, 1 WHO STAYED GET SAME PUNISHMENT

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

DATE: FRIDAY, April 2, 1993                   TAG: 9304020069
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium
ESCAPEE, 1 WHO STAYED GET SAME PUNISHMENT
A teen-ager who escaped from Roanoke's juvenile detention home was committed Thursday to state custody - the same punishment meted out minutes earlier to a companion who turned down a chance to join the breakout.
A 17-year-old, one of three juveniles who overpowered a counselor during a carefully planned escape last week, pleaded guilty to violating a court order confining him to the Coyner Springs Juvenile Detention Center.
Also in Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court on Thursday was a 16-year-old who refused to join the escape, opting to stay behind and assist the counselor who was attacked and locked in a cell.
Roanoke Public Defender Ray Leven, who represented the 16-year-old on a charge of assaulting a police officer, cited his actions during the escape in asking for leniency.
But Judge Philip Trompeter sentenced both youths to indeterminate terms in a state juvenile home, sentences that could last just a few months or until their 21st birthdays.
Leven said he was concerned about the message sent to other youths at Coyner Springs: two juveniles who played vastly different roles in the escape, returning to the center Thursday with identical sentences.
"He thought he had done everything right" by not participating, Leven said of his client. "And this is the thanks that he gets."
Despite the youth's good deeds the night of the breakout, Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Alice Ekirch said he still deserved a state commitment for a past history that included far more than his most recent assault charge.
"He's had an extensive record with the juvenile courts," she said.
Neither youth is being identified because of their ages. Two other juveniles also face charges for participating in the March 22 escape.
On the night of the breakout, a counselor was called into a cell after two youths stuffed toilet paper in a commode and then complained that water was overflowing onto a mattress placed on the floor to deal with overcrowding. The counselor then unlocked an adjacent cell when another youth complained of stomach pains.
All three youths then jumped the counselor, took his keys and locked him in a cell. Before letting themselves out, they unlocked the cell of the 16-year-old - who on earlier occasions had been their partner in criminal ventures.
Leven described the 16-year-old as a "born follower" who the escapees apparently thought they could bully into compliance.
But this time, the 16-year-old stayed put. "He didn't want to be on the run; he didn't want to be always looking for the police," Leven said.
After the other three youths had fled, the 16-year-old unlocked the counselor and assisted in calling for help.
By the time police arrived, the youths had disappeared with the assistance of someone on the outside who cut a hole in a chain-link fence and had a getaway car waiting nearby. Within the week, all three were apprehended by police in Southeast Roanoke.
The 17-year-old who pleaded guilty to escape also was sentenced Thursday on charges of automobile theft and grand larceny.
Defense attorney Terry Grimes said the 17-year-old had requested that he be committed to a detention center run by the State Department of Youth and Family Services.
"He wanted out of Coyner Springs," Grimes said.

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB