Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, April 29, 1994 TAG: 9404290157
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: TODD JACKSON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Darrell Andrew Hayes, 30, of 3026 Bethel Road in Fincastle, was shot at least once after he wrecked his car and then opened fire on the deputies with an assault rifle, according to Botetourt County Sheriff Reed Kelly. The shootout occurred on Frontage Road 054 in the Indian Rock area around 7 p.m.
The deputies were pursuing Hayes - who had robbed a Texaco service station on U.S. 11 near Buchanan - after being notified by his parents.
"He shot a hole through the floor of [his parents'] home," Kelly said. "They were afraid he was going to hurt somebody.''
The sheriff said at least 15 rounds were fired in the gunbattle - nine by Hayes and the others by Cpl. Eddie Clark and Deputy L.W. Bennett. Clark's cruiser was riddled by bullets, several shattering the windshield and piercing the front seat. Clark received a minor wound when a bullet grazed his ear, Kelly said. Bennett was not injured.
"They're lucky to be here," he said. "They followed procedures and they did all they could do."
Back at the Texaco station around 9:30 p.m., store employees Thelma Taylor and Thurman Ayers were recounting the robbery.
"I thought the man was playing a joke at first," said Ayers, drinking a soda. "But he put the gun to my chest and then to my neck. I had a Russian pull a gun on me on the streets of Berlin after [World War II], but it didn't feel half as bad as this did."
Taylor, who was behind the store's counter when the robbery occurred, said Hayes put just over $10 worth of gas in his car, waited outside until no customers were in the store, then pulled the assault rifle out and walked in. Hayes held the gun on the employees and backed down an aisle to a cooler and grabbed a 12-pack of beer.
"He took ten dollars and five cents in gas and a 12-pack of beer, and he lost his life for it," Taylor said.
Kelly said the state police will conduct an investigation of the shooting. "I feel more comfortable with an outside agency taking a look at it."
It's the second time in 21/2 years that a Botetourt County deputy has shot and killed a robbery suspect, but the circumstances of Thursday night's gunbattle were much different from those of the previous incident.
On Oct. 24, 1991, Deputy O.E. Shires stopped the car of 29-year-old Staunton resident Terry Ricardo Smith. Smith's car matched the description of one driven by a man who had robbed a convenience store in Buchanan.
Shires said Smith grabbed an object - which the deputy thought was a gun - and fled. Shires said he fired after Smith turned toward him with the object in his hand.
It turned out that Smith was clutching his sunglasses and keys, not a weapon, when he was killed.
A grand jury twice declined to indict Shires on a manslaughter charge. Smith's estate filed a $5 million civil lawsuit against Shires, but a federal judge dismissed the suit this month. A U.S. Justice Department investigation is pending.
Keywords:
FATALITY
by CNB