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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, November 2, 1994                   TAG: 9411020081
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: RON BROWN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: FINCASTLE                                LENGTH: Medium

17-YEAR-OLD COULD FACE MOB-VIOLENCE TRIAL AS ADULT

Judge Dudley Emick heard enough evidence to convince him that the charges against the 17-year-old could be sent to the grand jury. But he was not ready to make a final decision on the teen-ager until he hears from a juvenile probation office next week.

The youth was one of seven people - five adults and two juveniles - charged with mob violence after valuables were taken from a Blue Ridge home in September, a visitor to the house was beaten unconscious and much of the house's interior was ransacked. Police are continuing the investigation and expect another teen-ager to be charged.

If tried and convicted as an adult, the 17-year-old could face 20 years in prison under the "mob violence" provisions of the state's lynch law. He could face an additional 45 years in prison if also convicted on burglary, grand larceny and destruction of property charges.

Emick convicted another teen-ager Tuesday on similar charges stemming from the same incident. Prosecutors did not request that juvenile be tried as an adult.

Witnesses testified that the incident grew out of a disagreement between two teen-agers. One of the boys took the other's sunglasses and threatened to beat him if he kept demanding their return.

On Sept. 7, the two teen-agers met at the Blue Ridge home after the one who took the glasses said he wanted to make up. The youth who lived in the house testified that soon four or five carloads of teen-agers came to the house uninvited. He asked them to leave after they broke a bird cage and let some pet cockatoos loose.

As the group left the house, words were exchanged with some people outside. The teen-ager who now may face charges as an adult was sprayed with Mace by a man who said he thought the teen-ager was going to "beat me up."

The next morning, the group of teen-agers returned, entered the house and went upstairs, where Danny Gusler, 23, of Stewartsville was sleeping. Witnesses said the group punched and kicked him until he blacked out. Then they went through the house, where they broke into the master bedroom and looted it of jewelry, money and clothes. On the way out, the group smashed a glass table and overturned appliances, witnesses said.

"We can't put the finger on a single person," said Commonwealth's Attorney Rob Hagan. "It was a mob action. They were all in there aiding and abetting each other."