ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, March 7, 1996 TAG: 9603070058
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DIANE STRUZZI STAFF WRITER
POLICE IN FOUR jurisdictions are still piecing together details of a Tuesday night spree.
A Petersburg m an arrested in Roanoke after a highway chase Tuesday night is a suspect in two motel robberies as well as the shooting of his ex-girlfriend, according to police.
Shaun Michael Love was arrested after he crashed his car into that of an unsuspecting motorist during a police pursuit.
By that time, investigators in four jurisdictions were connecting a series of crimes in Prince George County, Amherst County, Lynchburg and Roanoke.
Love remained in Roanoke City Jail without bond Wednesday. His former girlfriend, Sayonara V. McLaughlin, was in critical and unstable condition at Medical College of Virginia, according to a patient representative at the Richmond hospital. Authorities would not say what part of her body was hit, only that her wounds were life-threatening.
About 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, Prince George County police received a call for help from McLaughlin's home. The dispatcher heard shots in the background, according to Sgt. Ron Stewart of the county Police Department.
When police arrived, McLaughlin had been shot several times.
By 8:10 p.m., police had charged Love with attempted murder and entered his name and car into the Virginia Criminal Information Network.
Moments before the warrant was issued, a man robbed a motel in Amherst County, according to a search warrant affidavit that state police filed in Roanoke Circuit Court in connection with their investigation of Love. The robber took $360. A young woman accompanied the man and checked the motel lobby just before the robbery, according to the affidavit.
A witness described the getaway car as a blue Honda with two extra speakers visible through the rear window. The affidavit confirmed that Love's car matched that description.
About an hour and a half later, a man asked for a room at a motel in Lynchburg. He showed the driver's license of a Michael Love, according to the affidavit. The man then pulled a gun, took about $180 and fled in a blue Honda driven by a woman, according to the affidavit.
About 10 p.m., a Bedford County sheriff's deputy spotted Love's car on U.S. 460 near Virginia 122 and tried to pull it over. That began a 30-minute, 20-mile pursuit at speeds that reached nearly 90 mph.
James Douglas Stevens was going to the Roanoke Regional Airport to meet his sister when he got caught in the middle of the action.
"I noticed a lot of police cars on the opposite side of the road," Stevens said Wednesday. "I was wondering what was going on there. I was trying to get out of the way and pull over to the side of the road when the car hit me."
At Orange Avenue and Hollins Road in Northeast Roanoke, Love hit Stevens' car, spraying him with glass. Stevens' car was totaled, but he suffered only minor injuries. A police officer gave him a ride to the airport.
After the crash, police arrested Love and a 17-year-old girl. Authorities said the girl, whose name they would not reveal, was treated for minor injuries and released.
Amherst County officials said Wednesday that they were still investigating the first motel robbery and had not charged anyone.
Lynchburg police charged Love with robbery, use of a firearm and possession of a firearm as a felon.
State police charged him with failure to stop for a police officer, reckless driving causing an accident and attempted malicious wounding.
Police said they found a .45-caliber gun and ammunition in Love's car.
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