ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, March 2, 1996 TAG: 9603030005
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: BEDFORD
SOURCE: RICHARD FOSTER STAFF WRITER
AN EMERGENCY FIRE RADIO, lost in a scuffle at Bedford County Memorial Hospital and subsequently used to taunt police with fake calls, has been retrieved.
The show's over.
Rodney Anthony, 21, of Lynch Station was charged Friday with stealing a radio that police believe someone had used to broadcast fake emergency calls. A Bedford County deputy had lost the radio in a scuffle at Bedford County Memorial Hospital Sunday night.
Sheriff's Investigator Tim Hayden recovered the radio Tuesday from Anthony at the Raintree apartment complex in Bedford. A spokesman for the Sheriff's Office would not say how the radio was traced to Anthony.
Deputy Scott Arney, who also is a volunteer firefighter, lost the emergency fire radio while trying to subdue suspects who attacked Sgts. Ricky Gardner and Rick Wiita in a free-for-all at the hospital Sunday.
Since then, someone has apparently been using it to taunt police with fake calls. Anthony, who was released from jail on a $2,000 bond, has denied making the calls.
Lt. John McCane said someone radioed in to the county's emergency dispatch center shortly after the fight. The caller yelled, "There's an emergency in Moneta. Somebody give me help!"
The local fire chief, believing the cry for help to be legitimate, called out fire units, and the Sheriff's Office sent four cars. It turned out to be a false call, and more followed, McCane said.
"We had guys running out there with their lights on at high speed," McCane said. "It puts the officers at risk and other people at risk when we have to run calls like that."
Making fake calls is a Class 1 misdemeanor, punishable by up to 12 months in jail and a $2,500 fine. "And if we're able to determine who made those calls, we'll prosecute to the fullest extent of the law," McCane said.
As for Arney, the deputy who lost the radio, Bedford County Sheriff Mike Brown said the deputy couldn't help it. "He was trying to assist downed officers," Brown said. "He had his hands full."
The fight broke out after Gardner and Wiita asked an unruly crowd at the hospital to calm down and clear the emergency-room entrance. Someone punched Gardner, and Wiita was knocked to the ground and kicked in the face while attempting to subdue the brawlers.
Cousins Buford and Mickey Crider were charged in the attack.
Buford Crider of Altavista was charged with threatening Gardner's life, assault and battery and resisting arrest. He has been released on $5,000 bond.
Mickey Crider of Moneta was charged with assault and battery and resisting arrest. He also has been released on bond.
The Criders and about 25 to 30 other people gathered at the hospital after a double shooting in the parking lot of an abandoned Moneta school. The parking lot is considered a popular drag-racing spot.
Most in the crowd at the hospital were friends or family of the victims, David Foxx of Bedford County's Body Camp area, and Reva Price, who lives in the Raintree apartment complex in Bedford.
Foxx, who was hit over the right eye and in his right armpit, was released Monday from Roanoke Memorial Hospital. Price was shot in the right thigh. Price was treated at Bedford County Memorial Hospital and released.
George Arthur English of Franklin County later was charged with two counts of malicious wounding in connection with the shooting and two counts of using a firearm in the commission of a felony.
English was under guard during his arraignment Monday because of anonymous threats made against his life. He was released from the Bedford County Jail later in the week on $25,000 bond.
LENGTH: Medium: 72 linesby CNB