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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 21, 1995                   TAG: 9506220026
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: DIANE STRUZZI AND MATT CHITTUM
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

BOMB THREATS USED IN THEFTS

Two restaurants on the same block of Orange Avenue Northeast were robbed in less than 24 hours Monday and Tuesday. In both cases, the robber claimed he had explosives in the bathroom.

Just after 6 p.m. Tuesday, the Dairy Queen in the 2300 block of Orange Avenue Northeast was robbed by a man who presented a note saying there were explosives in the bathroom, a Roanoke police news release said. The man fled on foot with an undisclosed amount of money.

Minutes later, police arrested Paul E. Troutman on Dunbar Avenue Northwest and charged him with the robbery.

At 9:45 p.m. Monday, a man wearing a white shirt and shorts entered the Hardee's just across the street from the Dairy Queen and handed the manager a note that said he was there to rob the store and needed money, police said. He then told her he had put a bomb in the bathroom. The manager accompanied the man to a back room, where he took an undetermined amount of money. Police said no weapon was displayed.

No bomb was found in either case.

Troutman has not been charged in the Hardee's robbery. He was being held in the Roanoke jail without bond.

by CNB