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

DATE: FRIDAY, February 10, 1995                   TAG: 9502140094
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: MATT CHITTUM STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

CONVENIENCE-STORE OWNER SHOT IN ROBBERY, HOSPITALIZED

Neighbors said he is a generous man who would have given the money away if he were asked, but Thursday night, the popular owner of a neighborhood store was shot several times during a robbery in Northwest Roanoke.

Roanoke police said Cliff Hartsel, owner of the Wilmont Market at Shenandoah Avenue and 36th Street, was taken to Roanoke Memorial Hospital to be treated for multiple .22-caliber bullet wounds in his midsection.

Two men entered the store just before 10 p.m., shot Hartsel, and fled on foot with a small amount of cash, police said.

David Wilson Terrell, who was walking by on Shenandoah Avenue, said he saw the men run around the building and head up 36th Street toward Salem Turnpike.

Hartsel was wearing an oxygen mask but was standing up and talking to rescue workers before he was taken away in the ambulance. But his injuries weren't being taken lightly.

"Any time someone's shot, it's serious, especially if it's you," said a police spokesman.

Hartsel was being treated in the emergency room late Thursday night.

Shortly after the shooting, neighbors who stopped by to shop or who came to find out what happened were concerned about Hartsel.

"What happened to Cliff?" asked one man. "Damn," he said on learning Hartsel had been shot.

Tim and Danny Martin, who run nearby Beech Street Autobody, told police they knew Hartsel and asked if they could help out somehow.

"He was a real good guy," said Tim Martin. "He's friends with about everybody that comes in the store.

"Heck, he probably knew the guys that did this."

The Wilmont Market nearly was robbed in 1990, but cashier Theresa Smith refused to give the robber the money and struggled with him when he tried to take it.

Roanoke County police helped out by bringing in a dog to help search for the robbers Thursday night, but the dog turned up nothing.

A short time later, police were investigating another shooting on Staunton Avenue, less than two miles away, but it was unclear if the two incidents were related.

by CNB