Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, December 23, 1994 TAG: 9412230134
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SARAH HUNTLEY
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Ronald Wayne Roop, 31, of the 3800 block of Panorama Drive Northwest, admitted that he took part in six robberies in Roanoke, Roanoke County and Salem - three of them on one weekend - to support his addiction to crack cocaine.
Before he was sentenced, Roop pleaded guilty to grand larceny, use of a firearm during a robbery and two counts of robbery, stemming from three Salem robberies.
Salem Commonwealth's Attorney Fred King said Roop and an accomplice robbed the Fast Break Food Store on Apperson Drive on July 18, Orange Market on Boulevard Aug. 8 and the Happy Store on Apperson Drive on Aug. 18. They walked away with a total of $1,316 from the Salem robberies, King said.
During the Happy Store robbery, Roop waved a toy gun that resembled a 9 mm handgun at the clerk. It was found later in a nearby parking lot, King said. Police arrested Roop at his home after they lifted his fingerprints off the toy weapon and off a cash register at the Market Place on Plantation Road, a Roanoke County business robbed on Aug. 19.
Roop previously had pleaded guilty to the charges in Roanoke and Roanoke County.
His sentence, which includes drug rehabilitation while in prison and five years of probation after his release, covers the charges in all three jurisdictions. It was handed down by Roanoke County Circuit Judge Roy Willett.
The second suspect, John Edward Kirk, 33, of the 5200 block of Victoria Street Northwest, is scheduled to be sentenced in Roanoke Circuit Court on Jan. 31. He has pleaded guilty in Roanoke and Roanoke County, and still faces charges in Salem.
by CNB