ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times

DATE: Thursday, January 16, 1997             TAG: 9701160029
SECTION: VIRGINIA                 PAGE: C-3  EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: DIANE STRUZZI 

GUNMAN HOLDS UP TAXI DRIVER AT LINCOLN TERRACE

A Yellow Cab driver was robbed at gunpoint Tuesday evening in Northwest Roanoke.

Police said Calvin Smith had stopped at the intersection of Burrell Street and Carver Avenue in Lincoln Terrace housing development about 5:45 p.m. He was not picking up a fare. A man got into the rear of the cab and stuck a handgun into Smith's neck. The man threatened to kill Smith, then forced him to drive to Washington Park. Once there, the robber demanded money.

Smith gave the man an undisclosed amount of cash. The robber fled on foot toward Orange Avenue Northwest.

In another incident Monday afternoon, a teen-ager tried to rob a 68-year-old woman who was standing on a corner in Northwest Roanoke.

Barbara Gross was at Polk Street and Michigan Avenue about 12:45 p.m. when a boy demanded money from her, police said. Gross screamed and the boy ran west on Michigan Avenue. No money was taken.

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