ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, February 23, 1996 TAG: 9602230103
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: DAVID M. POOLE STAFF WRITER
Suffolk Del. Robert Nelms said Thursday he was answering nature's call during a stroll in a city park when a police officer charged him with indecent exposure.
"I don't feel like I've broken any laws," Nelms said of the Feb. 15 incident. "I didn't do anything that any other guy hasn't done in the woods."
Nelms said he was unaware of Byrd Park's reputation as a notorious spot for illicit sexual activity.
Nelms was robbed at gunpoint in the same park four yeas.
"Obviously, this is embarrassing," he said. "I want to make it perfectly clear I was alone. No one else was with me, and no one else was involved."
Nelms, 36, said he went to Byrd Park - about four miles from the Capitol - to get some fresh air the afternoon of Feb. 15 during a momentary lull in the assembly's workload.
"I went down to the river to get some exercise and hopefully some peace and quiet," he said.
He said he strolled along a nature trail that runs along the James River. "The rushing river had its effect on my bladder."
Nelms said he stepped off the path so he would be hidden if someone came along. As he urinated, he said he saw a man approaching and "struggling to see me through the small trees."
The man turned out to be a plainclothes officer, who issued Nelms a summons.
Thursday, reporters also questioned Nelms about discrepancies in media reports about the 1992 robbery.
According to police records, Nelms reported that two men robbed him of $66 and his keys in Byrd Park the evening before the 1992 veto session of the General Assembly. Police records show that another man reported he had been robbed nearby about 30 minutes earlier.
But the Richmond Times-Dispatch - quoting unnamed police officers - reported that Nelms and the second victim were together in the same car when they were robbed.
"That was a misprint - I was alone," Nelms said.
Terri Williams of Landmark News Service contributed to this report.
LENGTH: Short : 48 linesby CNB