ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, January 18, 1997 TAG: 9701200111
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH
SOURCE: MIKE MATHER LANDMARK NEWS SERVICE
ANYTHING YOU DRIVE can and will be used against you. Especially in this case.
Whatever kind of case the state had against a man accused of auto theft, it had a better one after he came to court in a car police say was stolen.
In court for a preliminary hearing Friday morning, 20-year-old Tony Brite asked for, and was granted, a delay in his case. Brite and his two companions left the building.
The auto-squad detective helping prosecute the case followed Brite outside and watched him get into a shiny new Volvo with New York license plates.
The detective, Gary Nelson, checked the plates. The dispatcher told him the plates should have been on a Mercedes. And she alerted him that an identical Volvo had been stolen from a Chesapeake dealership Thursday morning.
The detective tailed the car to a convenience store, where Brite and his companions went inside.
Few places in the city see a higher concentration of police officers than that 7-Eleven and the McDonald's restaurant next door. Officers who work in the headquarters building or who or are on break from testifying in court frequently stop there for snacks or lunch.
Brite had blundered into a hive of police.
Outside the store, the detective radioed for backup. Media relations Officer Mike Carey, who had stopped for a doughnut, was already inside the store, and three other officers were just a moment away. When the men returned to the car, the other officers converged.
All suspects were arrested peacefully. A check of the car's identification number showed it was indeed stolen, police said.
Auto-squad Sgt. Pat Gough said Brite and the two other men are ``household names'' among his detectives. In fact, the car's driver, 19-year-old Cedric Henderson, had pleaded guilty Monday to auto theft.
Police said the three men are part of a larger car-theft ring called ``The Firm.'' That organization has frustrated the detectives because the members are frequently prosecuted but almost always avoid substantial jail time, Gough said.
Court records show numerous traffic and felony convictions and several pending charges for Brite, Henderson and the third man arrested Friday, Lamont A. Jackson.
When Brite and Henderson showed up for court in the Volvo Friday, ``that epitomizes our frustration and shows their unmitigated gall,'' Gough said.
Chesapeake police spokeswoman Elizabeth Jones said Henderson was charged Friday with stealing the Volvo. Other charges against Henderson and the two men with him were being considered, police said.
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