ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, February 28, 1996 TAG: 9602280099
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
A man who said he planned to commit suicide in front of his estranged girlfriend at a Roanoke shopping center was sentenced Tuesday to eight years in prison for what he did instead - abducting her at gunpoint after firing several shots.
The only person injured was Darren L. Cobbs himself, who was struck in the leg by a bullet from his own gun outside a hair salon at the Hunting Hills Plaza off U.S. 220.
Cobbs' plan to kill himself in no way diminished the threat he posed to his ex-girlfriend, Cherie Harriston, and other people at Hair Trends Inc. where she worked, Roanoke Circuit Judge Diane Strickland said in imposing punishment.
Cobbs, 24, testified Tuesday that at the time of the Aug. 15, 1995 incident, he believed he had been wronged by a legal system that had issued a restraining order prohibiting him from having contact with Harriston and their young child.
He drove to the hair salon where Harriston worked, entered the business with a small-caliber handgun and led her outside. On the sidewalk, he fired several shots - one of which hit his leg, Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Gerald Teaster said earlier in summarizing the evidence.
Cobbs testified that he had the gun to his head at one point, but that Harriston knocked his hand away as he fired, causing the bullet to strike his leg.
He pushed Harriston into a car driven by one of two teen-agers that had accompanied Cobbs. They drove to a mobile home in Franklin County, where Harriston was held for several hours before Cobbs was arrested.
Assistant Public Defender Steve Milani said that since his client has been incarcerated, Cobb has learned to take responsibility for his actions. ``Mr. Cobbs' greatest punishment ... is that he had to learn his lesson the hard way,'' Milani said.
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