ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, June 5, 1996 TAG: 9606050057
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
NOTE: Above
Waving a butcher knife, screaming obscenities and pacing in circles, a boy with the words "Life Sux" scrawled on his flannel shirt held police at bay for an hour Tuesday afternoon in the parking lot of a Southeast Roanoke convenience store.
The standoff ended when police doused the 15-year-old with pepper spray and wrestled him to the pavement.
"I've been Maced before," the youth calmly told officers as they handcuffed him seconds later. "That wasn't real Mace, was it?''
Although no one was injured, more than 20 police officers were prepared for the worst during the tense standoff at the Getty Mart on Jamison Avenue.
It started shortly before noon, when Tina Davis was pumping gas. As Davis watched, a police officer approached the 15-year-old in front of the store and asked why he wasn't in school. The youth then pulled what appeared to be a handgun - but which police later learned was a toy - from his shirt and pointed it at the officer, Davis said.
"The cop said: 'Ma'am, run! Run! Run!' So I just hotfooted it out of there.
"That was the most scared I've ever been in my life. You think you'd see something like this on `Cops,' not in real life."
Seconds later, the 15-year-old threw his gun against a police car as it pulled into the lot. It was only after the weapon shattered on impact that police learned it was an air gun.
Then the youth drew a large butcher knife from his shirt and threatened to cut a gas pump hose and set it on fire, police said. He then brandished the knife at Sgt. M.C. Brown, who spent the next hour trying to talk the youth into surrendering.
As Brown negotiated with the 15-year-old, an eerie silence settled over the usually busy convenience store. Davis' minivan sat deserted at the gas pumps; she had fled with $3.15 showing on the pump. Several cars and an ice cream truck, its engine still running, were abandoned in the parking lot.
Police closed Jamison and Dale avenues. A curious crowd gathered, but police kept them at a distance in case shots were fired.
For the next hour, the 15-year-old paced in circles, yelled obscenities and spat on the pavement as Brown pleaded with him to lay his knife down. The boy held the knife against his left wrist most of the time, but occasionally waved it at police or placed it to his chest.
At one point, the boy lit a cigarette, took two puffs, then tossed it dangerously close to the gas pumps. Later, when a police officer ventured close enough to place a can of Pepsi on the pavement, the boy took several gulps and hurled it back at police.
After about an hour, the boy appeared to calm down. The circles he paced were smaller, his cursing quieter.
Sensing an opportunity, police directed one officer to slowly approach Brown and place a canister of pepper spray in his hand, which the sergeant held behind his back, out of the boy's view. Then, as a circle of police officers prepared to jump, Brown sprayed the boy in the face.
The boy turned and dropped the knife as a pack of police officers descended on him. He offered no resistance as they took him to his knees and handcuffed him. Although the boy seemed unaffected by the pepper spray, several officers were left coughing and rubbing their eyes after subduing him.
As the boy was taken into custody, the crowd that had gathered across the street cheered.
The 15-year-old - whom police did not identify because of his age - was charged with brandishing a firearm, assault and two counts of carrying a concealed weapon. He was being held Tuesday afternoon at the Coyner Springs Juvenile Detention Center.
Although one police officer drew his gun when the youth brandished his gun, authorities seemed determined to end the incident peacefully. Maj. J.L. Viar, who watched the standoff unfold from about 20 feet away, praised the officers for "their professional restraint and action in this matter."
LENGTH: Medium: 83 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: WAYNE DEEL/Staff. 1. Roanoke police Sgt. M.C. Brown aimsby CNBa cloud of pepper spray at an unidentified teen-ager after the boy
held more than 20 officers at bay Tuesday afternoon. The butcher
knife the boy had brandished is on the ground at right. 2. As the
boy paces, screaming obscenities, Brown (left) tries to talk him
into dropping his knife. The standoff took place in the parking lot
of the Getty Mart on Jamison Avenue Southeast. 3. Brown subdues the
boy, who seemed unfazed by the spray. color. 4. (headshot) Davis.