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

DATE: THURSDAY, November 25, 1993                   TAG: 9311250265
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: D4   EDITION: HOLIDAY 
SOURCE: TODD JACKSON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

MAN CHARGED WITH ABDUCTION

Roanoke city social worker Susie Bishop says she was held against her will by the stepfather of two children Tuesday morning, but she vows the incident won't change her attitude toward her job.

"People don't always like what we have to say," Bishop said in a Wednesday interview.

Bishop, an employee of the Social Services Department for 19 years, was making a court-ordered visit to an apartment on Elm Avenue Southwest to determine if two children should be allowed to return to the home, according to a police report.

Joseph R. White Jr., 27, was arrested in downtown Roanoke just after 3 p.m. Tuesday and charged with abducting Bishop. The mother of the children was charged with using abusive language, police reported, but her name was withheld to protect the children's identity.

Police said Bishop noticed there were mattresses on the floor of the apartment in violation of a court directive.

In a Wednesday interview, Bishop did not expand on the details of her visit but said the stepfather and the mother of the children became increasingly agitated from the moment she entered the residence. The man then locked Bishop inside the one-room apartment, cursed her, hit the door she was standing beside, and told her she was not leaving until the children were returned, police said.

"You get to know people in a job like this," said Bishop, "but they went a little beyond what normal people do. I just tried not to show them my fear."

Bishop said she tried to keep the couple - and herself - calm.

"The first thing I did was look for windows in case I had to try and jump out," she said. After several minutes - Bishop said it "seemed like two years" - the man opened the door and told her to leave, but then jumped over a bannister and blocked Bishop's path on a flight of stairs as she attempted to exit the building, she said.

Finally, with the help of the apartment manager, Bishop was allowed to pass, police said.

The stepfather and mother continued to follow Bishop, police said, and the man stood in front of her car until she backed the vehicle out and left.

"I've done a lot of thinking since yesterday," Bishop said Wednesday afternoon. "And there's no way I'm going to let this affect how I treat other people. I love my job."

by CNB