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

DATE: FRIDAY, May 19, 1995                   TAG: 9505190067
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: KIMBERLY N. MARTIN
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

MAN WHO FIRED INTO BOSS'S HOME GETS 6 MONTHS

A man who sought revenge after he was fired from his job last summer was sentenced Thursday in Salem Circuit Court to five years in jail; however, 4 1/2 years of his sentence was suspended, leaving him six months to serve.

Michael S. Hartless pleaded guilty in March to the felony charge of shooting into an occupied dwelling - the home of his former supervisor, Roger Smith.

Hartless was fired from Timber Truss Housing Systems Inc. in June 1994 for violating company policies, Smith has said.

The dismissal, which came less than a year after Hartless began working at the company, led Hartless to seek revenge Aug. 8.

That night, after telling his former co-workers of his plan, Hartless fired a shot from his .22-caliber rifle into Smith's home, police have said.

The bullet shattered Smith's bedroom window, then tore through his bedroom wall and the door of his daughter's bedroom, landing on the bed where she was sleeping.

No one was hurt.

Salem Commonwealth's Attorney Fred King was disappointed by the sentence.

"This was an intentional act of revenge," said King, who was requesting that Hartless get a 10-year sentence, suspended after he had served four years.

Hartless was facing from two to 10 years in prison.

Hartless, who has said he was under the influence of alcohol during the incident, will undergo drug and alcohol treatment.

by CNB