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

DATE: TUESDAY, March 21, 1995                   TAG: 9503210140
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: DIANE STRUZZI
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

MAN WITH KNIFE HALTS CAR, STEALS IT FROM DRIVER

A man brandishing a knife jumped in front of her maroon Mercedes and ordered her out of the car, the woman told police. The man then drove the car west on Melrose Avenue.

About 12:25 a.m. Monday, patrol officers saw the car as it turned into the Lansdowne Park housing development. Police found four juveniles inside and charged the driver with operating a vehicle without a license.

The driver told police he had been given a ride by a man he knew only by last name. Police said the teen-ager told them the man had given him the use of the car until 2 a.m. Roanoke police obtained an arrest warrant for the man Monday, charging him with robbing the woman and taking her car.

Police had not arrested him late Monday and did not release his name.

In another incident, a 21-year-old Southwest Roanoke man is accused of firing his handgun into the floor of the Uni-Mart at 1115 Main St. S.W. early Sunday and has been charged with shooting into an occupied building.

Scott Allen Paxton of Grandin Road was arrested after he placed the handgun and clip on the store counter top. Police said he and another man had been arguing in the store before the shooting. No one was injured. The other man was charged with disorderly conduct.