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

DATE: MONDAY, November 13, 1995                   TAG: 9511130118
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

GIRL KNOCKS CAR INTO GEAR, INTO STORE

A 12-year-old girl left in a parked car accidentally knocked it into gear Sunday afternoon, sending the car rolling through several Brambleton Avenue parking lots before it crashed into the front of Kelley's Music.

No one was injured, although the car "hit the building hard enough to set the burglar alarm off," said Sgt. Frances Haggerty of the Roanoke County Police Department.

The car smashed its way into a corner of the music store's showroom but did not damage any merchandise, owner Ron Montgomery said. The store was closed at the time.

Haggerty said the child's mother had stopped at a coin laundry in the 3300 block of Brambleton and gone inside about 1, leaving the car running so the girl could listen to the radio.

After the car slipped into gear, it rolled through two business parking lots before running into the store.

No charges were filed, because the accident happened on private property. There was no estimate of the damages Sunday.

Montgomery, who learned of the accident after responding to the burglar alarm, was working Sunday to clear the debris and seal the hole in his storefront. "It wasn't exactly how I wanted to spend my Sunday afternoon."

by CNB