Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 16, 1995 TAG: 9502160079
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SARAH HUNTLEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The boy, who was 14 when the crime occurred, was arrested and charged with three counts of robbery Oct. 31 when police responded to complaints from the victims' parents.
The prosecutor agreed to reduce the charges from robbery to one felony count of larceny and two misdemeanor counts of larceny Wednesday as a part of a plea agreement, because the victims testified that they were not afraid or injured.
"Their parents seemed to take the approach that it was a prank, not a robbery," Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Susan Cohen told Roanoke County Circuit Judge Kenneth Trabue.
Two of the victims, ages 8 and 12, were trick-or-treating together on Colony Lane in Roanoke County when the defendent and a group of older boys approached them and demanded their candy, Cohen said.
The 12-year-old tried to hold onto his plastic bag and hit the defendant with a plastic part of his costume, but gave in when the handle on his bag broke, the prosecutor said. The thief then grabbed the 8-year-old's pillowcase full of treats and ran off, Cohen said.
The third robbery charge stems from a separate incident that evening. According to Cohen, the defendant approached another 14-year-old boy, pushed him and took his bag of candy.
All three boys gave police a description, and when officers arrested the defendant later that evening, they found the missing pillowcase, some small figurines one of the victims had put in his bag and more than $5 worth of candy, the prosecutor said.
"The only way to describe it is bully, aggressive behavior," Cohen said.
Before sentencing the teen-ager to detention, Trabue heard testimony from the defendant's probation officer, who outlined two years of efforts to address previous behavior and legal problems.
According to probation officer George Clemens, the defendant was charged with assault and battery in August 1993. He was placed in a facility for runaways, where he subsequently destroyed private property, Clemens said. For that offense, he was ordered to perform community service and pay restitution.
The teen-ager stayed out of trouble until February 1994, when he brought a concealed weapon to school. He was put on indefinite probation and ordered to undergo anger control counseling, Clemens said.
Later in February, the boy was charged with assault and battery, another concealed-weapon offense and malicious wounding.
Although the boy's attorney, Vaso Doubles, argued that there were untapped alternatives to detention, such as intensive probation and counseling, Trabue handed down a strict sentence.
"You haven't done well in an unstructured setting," he told the boy. "I haven't heard of any attempt on your part to take advantage of any program that's been offered to you. I hope this will be the first step."
by CNB