Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, July 6, 1995 TAG: 9507060048
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: KATHY LOAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Long
Christiansburg police announced last March that seven people had been charged with the break-ins and thefts that resulted in more than $40,000 in losses. Five of those arrested were juveniles, but one will be tried as an adult.
Authorities had been investigating the cases since October as restaurants, car repair shops and gun shops continually reported break-ins.
Break-ins were attempted at two Christiansburg gun shops. Break-ins and thefts occurred at Country Cooking, the Huckleberry Inn, Pilot Homes and Triangle Lanes. Thefts were reported at New River Valley Mall's parking lot, and at two Christiansburg car service centers.
Blacksburg and Montgomery County authorities also obtained charges for thefts at auto shops and at the Radford Auto Auction.
Michael David Lovern, 19, of the 3300 block of Brookside Drive, is accused in 20 indictments alleging thefts, break-ins and damage to property at businesses in Christiansburg, Blacksburg and Montgomery County from November to January.
Christiansburg police said in March that about $20,000 in money and items were stolen, with the same amount of damage done to the businesses. Pilot Homes alone sustained about $10,000 in damages. Lovern is charged with that property damage in addition to a break-in and theft there.
Christopher B. Shelton, 17, of the 3700 block of Pilot Road in Riner, faces 23 indictments charging break-ins and thefts in Blacksburg, Christiansburg and the Radford Auto Auction. Though still a minor, he is being tried as an adult.
Brian Shannon Potts, 18, of Belmont Trailer Park, faces five indictments accusing him of break-ins and thefts at Pilot Homes and the auto auction.
The total number of indictments handed up Monday was 249. Others indicted included:
William Scott Leighton, 35, of Blacksburg, on two drug charges and one charge of possessing a firearm after being convicted of a felony.
The indictments allege that Leighton distributed more than one-half ounce of marijuana on March 7; that he distributed an imitation controlled substance he represented as LSD on March 12; and that on March 14, he possessed a firearm after previously being convicted of a felony.
Bonita Caswell Winfrey, 35, was indicted on a charge of setting fire to her father's Shawsville mobile home in March.
Winfrey, of Beech Spring Lane in Montgomery County, was charged after an investigation of a fire at the Dark Run Road home. Sheriff's deputies said they found pour patterns in the living room of a flammable liquid that had been ignited.
Deward Caswell, 58, told deputies he was resting in a bedroom when he smelled smoke, got up and saw his daughter, who told him to get out because the trailer was "going to go," according to reports filed by deputies.
Investigators believe the fire was the result of a family or land dispute and say Winfrey, who said she she saw smoke when she drove up, accused her father of setting the fire.
Norris Elroy Bramlett II, 20, of Roanoke, was indicted on a charge of possessing more than one-half ounce of marijuana with intent to distribute it. Bramlett was one of three Roanoke Valley men charged at a rave party at Dominion skating rink in Christiansburg last November.
Raves are all-night parties that generally feature light shows and high-energy dance music, designed for young people 18 and over.
Although the arrests did not occur during normal operating hours of the skating rink, almost anyone was allowed into the party after paying an admission, Skip Schwab, assistant commonwealth's attorney, said in April, when two other men were indicted on charges of possessing the drug Ecstasy at the party.
Robert Monroe Burch, 28, and Vincent Joseph Repede, 20, are awaiting trial in Circuit Court.
Reginald Waldo Davis III, 28, of Radford, was indicted on a charge of grand larceny from the Hethwood Food Lion in Blacksburg.
Davis was charged by police in February, the day after someone walked into the store Feb. 19 approached a cashier, asked for change and grabbed $200 from the register.
Scott Eugene Smith, 21, of Blacksburg, on a charge of grand larceny of a diamond ring from Friedman's Jewelers last December.
Smith was arrested in the Marketplace shopping center parking lot off North Franklin Street on Dec. 16 after police responded to a call from the store.
An investigation revealed that a man had left the store with a ladies' engagement ring valued at about $600. Police found Smith in the parking lot, put him in a patrol car and searched his girlfriend's car and the parking lot. Nothing was found.
Police suspected Smith had swallowed the ring and he was taken to a magistrate then held at Montgomery County Jail.
The ring was eventually recovered when it passed out of Smith's digestive system.
by CNB