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

DATE: SATURDAY, June 24, 1995                   TAG: 9506260140
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NORFOLK                                 LENGTH: Medium

CONVICT CAUGHT WITH AID OF DOG

Police tracked an escaped prisoner to a house near where a carjacked vehicle was found and used a police dog to find the fugitive lying in a backyard three doors down, authorities said.

Terrance L. Agnew, 27, a repeat armed robber with a history of cocaine abuse and mental illness, escaped Wednesday when he overpowered Norfolk Sheriff's Deputy Chester V. Haas Jr. Agnew allegedly stole the deputy's car and gun and left Haas handcuffed to a chain-link fence.

Police said he abandoned the deputy's car later that day and carjacked a 26-year-old Navy man at gunpoint. Police found the second car Thursday night.

As officers searched the house where the car was parked, other officers sealed off a two-block area. Two handlers and a dog then found Agnew about 10:30 p.m. Thursday, lying in the grass behind a neighboring home, said Norfolk police spokesman Larry Hill.

Hill said Agnew, who was carrying Haas' loaded .38-caliber revolver, surrendered without resistance. State police are investigating Agnew's escape, he said.

Sheriff's department spokesman George Schaefer said Haas violated departmental procedures in transporting Agnew without another deputy. They were traveling from a Norfolk court hearing on a probation violation back to the Hampton City Jail.

Schaefer said the prisoner was wearing leg irons and handcuffs but was not chained at the waist. He said Agnew used a pen to wedge a homemade key out of a hiding place between the sole and upper portion of his shoes.

Haas, 63, suffered cuts and bruises on his arm. Schaefer said Haas was placed on administrative leave pending further action.

Schaefer was unsure how Agnew got past a Plexiglas shield between the front and rear seats, or how he got hold of Haas' revolver.

``We have a number of questions about it,'' he said. ``We have two witnesses, Agnew and Haas, and we're waiting for Haas to regroup.''

Agnew has a history of elusiveness. In 1993, he eluded police for four weeks after freeing an ankle from leg shackles and running. On another occasion, he convinced deputies he needed medical attention because he said he had swallowed half a razor blade. He used that ploy on at least two earlier occasions, Hampton investigators said.

by CNB