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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, August 30, 1995                   TAG: 9508300071
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: BETTY HAYDEN
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

THEATER EMPLOYEE ROBBED IN PARKING LOT

An armed man robbed a Salem Valley 8 cinema employee as he crossed the theater parking lot early Monday, police said. It was the second robbery in Salem in less than two days.

About 12:35 a.m., after the man demanded money, the employee turned over a bag containing an undisclosed amount of cash, according to Salem Police Lt. Mike Fisher. The employee was not injured.

Fisher said the robber ran toward Willow River Apartments. Police searched the area, but no arrests have been made.

Late Saturday afternoon, an armed man robbed the Rainbow Bakery Thrift Store on Fourth Street.

In both cases, Fisher said, witnesses offered similar descriptions of the robber. The one difference was the description of guns used in the robberies.

In the theater robbery, the robber used a small-caliber blue-steel handgun, Fisher said. In the store robbery, the gun used was reported to be a large-caliber silver revolver.

by CNB