Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 10, 1995 TAG: 9503100075
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LISA APPLEGATE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Bobby Nazrini says he's ashamed he shot a gun to run off a disgruntled customer from his Williamson Road clothing store.
But the co-owner of Hype City says he's glad if people think twice now before messing with him or his store.
``Look, I'm not here to run for mayor or president,'' Nazrini said. ``I'm here to make my bread and try to make a living.''
Bobby Nazrini says he never even owned a gun until a brick sailed through a window of his Patterson Avenue store just a few months after it opened in April 1993.
But since then, Bobby and his wife, Laura, have grown tired of dealing with the irate customers, the vandals and the robbers. And they've become accustomed to handling the problems themselves.
This is the second time in less than two years the Nazrinis have been involved with a shooting at their store. In September 1993, Laura Nazrini shot and killed an intruder. Her actions were ruled justifiable by Roanoke's commonwealth's attorney.
Bobby Nazrini faces two misdemeanor charges - firing a gun within the city limits and brandishing a firearm - and a felony charge of attempted malicious wounding.
He was charged in February after he chased a customer - who wanted his money back - out of the store and fired a .22-caliber handgun.
A hearing, originally scheduled for Thursday, was postponed when the customer, Juan Harris, failed to appear in court.
Nazrini contends that store owners are being robbed on a daily basis and that he has a right to defend his livelihood.
He says most of his customers are decent, friendly people. ``Most of us are sweeter and nicer - we must be because, you know, the world would be falling apart sooner, right? But there are a few rotten eggs out there with nothing better to do.''
Those troublemakers, the Nazrinis admit, are inevitable in the retail industry and something they've learned to handle.
``One time,'' Bobby Nazrini recalled, ``this group of kids came in and said, `I have a gun, what are you going to do about it?' I just told them, `I'll try to blow your head off, too.'''
Most of their customers who come in to buy the brightly colored sweat shirts and immense, bell-bottomed pants are teenagers who need to be watched at all times, they say.
``You don't know where they're coming from half of the time,'' Bobby Nazrini said. ``They maybe were dealing drugs or something, then they come in here.''
Bobby Nazrini wanted to own his own store since he came to the United States from India at age 25.
Since he met and married Laura four years ago, their business has been their lives.
They play Monopoly when business is slow; wait for Laura's 8-year-old daughter to come home from school; make plans for their baby, due in a few weeks.
But what they once viewed as an ideal family situation proved to be more of a frightening reality Sept. 24, 1993.
That was the night Jeffrey Wayne Pultz broke into their Patterson Avenue store. The Nazrinis, who lived in an apartment attached to Hype City, watched as Pultz came toward them carrying their merchandise.
Laura Nazrini grabbed a shotgun and fired once. Pultz died shortly after.
She says she tries not to think about that night. But in the same situation, she wouldn't hesitate to do it again.
``You know [an intruder] wouldn't be there unless he had negative intentions,'' she said. ``I would go ahead and take my life into my own hands.''
They moved Hype City to Williamson Road soon after the shooting - more aware of, and perhaps more sensitive to, anyone who might threaten them.
So when Juan Harris walked into the store Feb. 4, demanding his money back for two pairs of size 56 pants, the Nazrinis were tense.
``I called the police as soon as he drove up,'' Laura Nazrini said.
Tempers flared when Bobby Nazrini refused to return Harris' money. Then Bobby Nazrini pulled a handgun from behind the counter.
``I tell him to run or I'll shoot, but he just stood there outside the store,'' Bobby Nazrini said. ``So I shot the gun [outside] in the air, and boy, did he run.''
He says he's sorry he lost his patience, but ``when someone is charging towards my wife, I'm not going to wait and see what happens.''
Nazrini says he is very flexible about his ``no-refund'' policy. He even wonders if his kindness is what gets him in trouble. Often, he won't tell customers he owns the store.
``They hear I'm the owner and they say, `Come on, cut me a deal,''' he said.
The Nazrinis say they would love to one day get out of the sales end and become a wholesale retailer. Soon, they hope to sell the Williamson Road property, possibly moving it to Franklin Road or Staunton Avenue.
Bobby Nazrini says he learned from the incident with Harris.
Next time someone comes in angry about a purchase, he said, ``I'll just give [the money] to them. It's not worth it.''
``But don't put that in the paper,'' he laughed. ``I'll have everyone coming in here yelling and screaming.''
by CNB