Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, October 12, 1995 TAG: 9510120070
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DIANE STRUZZI STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Tuesday night, Boston police said they found John David Ford asleep in the back seat of a 1992 Oldsmobile Delta 88 - a vehicle matching the description of one carjacked from Towers Shopping Center Saturday afternoon.
Police said that, when they awakened the 31-year-old man, he refused to identify himself or allow them to take fingerprints. Inside the car, they found a woman's pocketbook. Under the driver's seat, they recovered a .22-caliber handgun with 10 unspent rounds.
Wednesday night, Boston police said that Ford is a suspect in the abduction of an 86-year-old Roanoke woman, who was driven to Amherst County and left tied up in a wooded area. The woman freed herself and walked to safety.
Contacted at her home, the woman declined to comment and requested that her name not be published.
She was walking to her car Saturday afternoon from S&S Cafeteria at about 1:30 when the incident began. A man forced her into the vehicle and made her lie down on the floor in the front. A passerby found her eight hours later walking along a road in Amherst County.
In Boston, Ford is charged with illegal possession of a firearm, receiving a stolen motor vehicle and possession of ammunition. He was being held without bond until his arraignment today in Boston Municipal Court, according to Officer Jim Browning of the Boston Police Department.
Browning said that Ford is due to be arraigned on a fugitive charge of abduction and faces extradition to Virginia.
Virginia law enforcement authorities would not confirm the suspect's name. They would only say that they continue to work out the details of the case, which is being handled by state police.
"I will not discuss who the suspect is or where the suspect is," said Amherst County Commonwealth's Attorney Ed Meeks, who likely will be prosecuting the case.
But earlier in the day, state police said a sketch they released of the suspect matched the description of the man Boston police found asleep in the car.
At about 10:15 p.m. Tuesday, a uniformed patrol officer found the car parked in an alley, according to Boston Detective Richard Walsh. After checking a national criminal database, they realized the car had been reported stolen from Roanoke and that the driver was wanted for questioning about the abduction of a woman at gunpoint Saturday afternoon.
Her description of the abductor helped police draw a likeness of a suspect.
The Associated Press contributed information to this story.
by CNB