ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, November 12, 1996 TAG: 9611120103
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
A 48-year-old Blue Ridge man was shot at and his pickup truck stolen in Northwest Roanoke Monday.
Police said John Alexander Carter was driving in the 2700 block of Center Avenue about 11:40 a.m. when he saw a man gesture to him. He drove his 1997 Dodge Ram to meet the man. Police said the man got into Carter's pickup and asked for money.
When Carter took out some cash, the man pulled out a handgun and put a round in the chamber. The man continued to ask for money and Carter's wallet, police said. When the man discovered there was no money in the wallet, he fired the gun, smashing the driver's window.
Carter was not injured. He jumped out of his truck to call police. Police said Carter told them he heard his truck pull away, but did not see in which direction.
Other crimes reported over the last several days include:
* Sunday night, police said two men robbed a convenience store in Northeast Roanoke by holding the clerk at knifepoint.
About 9 p.m., two men walked into the Uni-Mart at 931 Gus Nicks Boulevard and waited for customers to leave the store. One man bought a pack of cigars. The other walked behind the front counter, grabbed the clerk and put a knife to her neck.
The robber let the clerk go after another store employee asked him not to hurt the clerk. The clerk and the other employee left the store. One of the robbers took the cash register. One of the clerks tried to hold the front door to keep the men inside, but the men ran into the door, shattered the glass, and fled.
Police found the cash register, unopened, in woods along Eastern Avenue Northeast.
* Police said a Roanoke man was robbed at gunpoint early Friday morning while walking through Northwest Roanoke
Roger Alan Sutphin, 41, of Fifth Street Southeast, was walking home about 3:10 a.m. when a car, occupied by three men and a woman, passed him and someone in the car made a comment about a diamond ring he was wearing.
Police said the car stopped on Naho Street in the Lansdowne Housing development and three additional men gathered. As Sutphin approached he was grabbed by one of the men. When Sutphin refused to remove his rings, another man fired a handgun near his head and yelled for him to take off the rings or be killed.
Sutphin said he was wearing nine rings worth approximately $5,000.
- Staff reports
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