ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, June 28, 1996 TAG: 9606280064
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BETTY HAYDEN SNIDER STAFF WRITER
The Southwest Roanoke man charged Wednesday with the abduction of a woman in his neighborhood now faces a second abduction charge in a separate incident the same day.
Police on Thursday charged Ronnie Lee Howard, 22, of First Street with the June 14 abduction of a 48-year-old woman outside her Elm Avenue apartment.
A man approached the woman as she entered her apartment building about 8:10 a.m. and put a knife to her neck. He ordered her to open her apartment door, but when she screamed, he fled into another apartment.
He was charged Wednesday with burglary and grand larceny in connection with a break-in earlier at the apartment he fled to.
On Wednesday Howard also was charged with abducting a 36-year-old woman who also lives on Elm Avenue. That woman was grabbed from behind outside her apartment about 3:45 p.m. and a knife was held to her back. The woman screamed, and the man fled.
Police continue to investigate four other attacks against women in Southwest Roanoke, including two incidents this month in which a man broke into women's apartments while they were sleeping. The other attacks were in March.
Lt. Bill Beason said police are questioning Howard about the other attacks, but he would not say whether Howard is a suspect. Howard is being held in the Roanoke City Jail without bond.
The rash of attacks over the past several weeks has worried some women who live and work in Old Southwest.
Rosemary Davis, a waitress at the Wildflour Cafe on Fourth Street, said she now parks on the street instead of behind the restaurant. She plans to buy pepper spray to protect herself.
"It's scary out there," said the 49-year-old Davis, who lives in Rocky Mount. "I am concerned."
After hearing about the recent attacks, Marianne Humphreys' husband told her to be more careful. The couple live on Mountain Avenue.
Humphreys, who strolled into the cafe with her daughter Thursday afternoon, said she has spent several of those nights with her in-laws in Daleville because she feels safer there.
"If I see anybody suspicious, I steer clear of them if possible," Humphreys said.
On the other side of Franklin Road, in the 100 and 200 blocks of Elm Avenue, closer to where the attacks have occurred, one resident said she hasn't let the attacks affect her beyond just making sure her windows and doors are always locked.
Maxine Brodie has rented an apartment on Elm for 15 years and in that time has seen crime increase. She knows the 23-year-old woman who was hit in the head with a hammer on March 4 as she delivered The Roanoke Times.
The 62-year-old widow lives with her 36-year-old son, who is mentally retarded. She hasn't let the attacks on women - some of which occurred in the daytime - slow her down.
"I didn't give it any thought," Brodie said. "I just went on and walked downtown."
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