ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, October 4, 1996 TAG: 9610040065
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DIANE STRUZZI
A 33-year-old Moneta man was arrested on charges of abducting an acquaintance and beating the woman's boyfriend with a hammer late Wednesday.
Ronald Wayne Hobbs was arrested in Bedford County early Thursday, according to police. He remained in Roanoke City Jail, being held without bond.
Police said that about 11:30 p.m. Wednesday, Debra Lang, 42, arrived at her Southeast Roanoke home with her boyfriend David Austin, 27. Before they went inside, a man began hitting Austin with a hammer.
Austin blocked most of the blows, escaped and drove to a convenience store on Bennington Street Southeast to call police. He suffered a broken left arm, police said.
The assailant forced Lang into his pickup truck and fled in an unknown direction, police said. Lang called police at 4:20 a.m. Thursday to alert them that she had returned home and that Hobbs was the assailant.
Hobbs was arrested at 6 a.m. in Bedford County. He was charged with malicious wounding in connection with Austin's beating. He also was charged with abduction and assault and battery in connection with Lang.
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