Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 8, 1994 TAG: 9406080076
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By RON BROWN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
He pleaded guilty Tuesday to robbing and shooting a man on New Year's Eve.
But he says he's not totally at fault.
"I need help," he said. "Regardless of what happens, I need help."
Cartwright said a lust for cocaine has ruined his life. He asked Roanoke Circuit Judge Clifford Weckstein to take that into consideration when the judge sentences him July 16.
He pleaded with Weckstein to consider sending him to a drug rehabilitation center once his prison time is through.
He faces a possible 143-year prison term. Eight of those years are mandatory, because he violated the state's firearm statutes.
Cartwright told Weckstein that a stint in a Massachusetts prison following robbery and assault convictions left him unprepared for life on the street, although he got a high school equivalency certificate there and accumulated three years' college credit in computer science.
He stayed clean for a while, then headed back to cocaine.
That's what brought him on a collision course with Robert Edgar Divers, a tow truck driver, who was locking up shop at a garage on Pearl Avenue Northeast on Dec. 31, 1993.
"Give me your wallet," Divers quoted the robber as saying before demanding that Divers tell him how much money the wallet contained.
"About $50," Divers guessed before the ranting gunman opened fire with a .357 Magnum. Divers felt the sting of the bullet underneath his arm.
Divers played dead on the ground for 15 or 20 seconds until the gunman drove away. He gave chase in a 14,000-pound tow truck, calling for police assistance on a cellular telephone.
Police caught up with Cartwright when he wrecked his car and jumped out, falling on his back on some ice.
On Tuesday, he apparently was more thoughtful, asking through his attorney if Weckstein would be merciful in considering his background before sentence.
The judge was making no guarantees.
Robert Edgar Divers was not present.
If he were, perhaps he would have responded like he did in December:
"We're not dealing with a rational human being. You don't treat a rabid dog like the neighborhood pet."
by CNB