ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, April 9, 1996 TAG: 9604090090
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MIKE HUDSON STAFF WRITER
As a security specialist for J.C. Penney's Valley View Mall store in Roanoke, David Parks' job is to discourage shoplifting - and to grab thieves if he can catch them in the act.
On Saturday night, he tried to do just that. But Parks ended up with more than he bargained for - a fight with several unruly women and a face full of pepper spray.
Parks, 27, declined to talk to the newspaper, but police said he gave them the following account:
About 8:15 p.m., he spotted two women trying to conceal a shirt and three pairs of jeans.
When they tried to leave the store, he confronted them. Parks and the two women began struggling at the door, and they managed to get outside to the parking lot. There, several other women joined in the scuffle, including one that Parks described as weighing more than 300 pounds.
He said the large woman sprayed him with pepper spray.
The spray first came into common use by police officers as a tool for subduing rowdy suspects. But it increasingly is sold to civilians for self-defense.
The spray got behind Parks' glasses, and the women fled in a small red pickup truck and a small blue-and-gray car.
No suspects have been arrested.
LENGTH: Short : 34 linesby CNB