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

DATE: THURSDAY, May 18, 1995                   TAG: 9505180067
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: LISA APPLEGATE
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

SALEM FOOTBALL STAR CHARGED IN STADIUM THEFT

Michael Murphy, 18, was charged with grand larceny, statutory buglary and reckless driving after money was stolen from Salem Municipal Field's box office.

Police answered a breaking-and-entering call at Municipal Field just before 10 p.m., according to Salem Police Lt. D.F. Murphy. He said they found the box office door broken into and a man running from the scene.

After a brief chase on foot, the man got into a car and headed east on Roanoke Boulevard. The car ran a red light at the intersection with Virginia 419, hit another car and stopped in the grass in front of a gas station on the corner.

No one was injured in the crash.

Murphy said a bag of money was found in the front seat of the car, but would not disclose how much it contained. A grand larceny charge involves a theft of more than $200.

Murphy, a senior at Salem High School, recently received a football scholarship to attend Concord College in Athens, W.Va., in the fall.