THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, August 5, 1994 TAG: 9408050572
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE STONE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 55 lines
A composite sketch of a suspect wanted for several armed robberies in Norfolk and on the Peninsula was released Thursday by Newport News police.
``He's very violent when someone does not do what he has told them to do,'' said Bill Roth, a police spokesman. ``And he's liable to pop up any night, anywhere.''
He is wanted for at least 10 armed robberies since June 28. Three of the robberies occurred in Norfolk; all the others were on the Peninsula.
Most of the robberies have occurred close to interstates, police said, and the suspect may be using the highways to escape quickly.
The latest robbery occurred Wednesday about 8:20 p.m. at a Shell gas station at 12100 Jefferson Ave. in Newport News. The robber brandished a handgun and demanded that the clerk give him all the money in the cash register.
After she complied, he demanded five cartons of Newport cigarettes. Again, the clerk complied. The gunman then ordered her into a rear storeroom and told her to remain there while he fled.
In a July 24 robbery of a Peninsula 7-Eleven, the suspect severely beat two clerks after one of them questioned him. He then robbed the store.
In another case, he avoided being photographed by a security camera by ordering a clerk to stand in front of the lens.
He has robbed two Sally Beauty Supply stores, one in the 7500 block of Tidewater Drive in Norfolk on June 28 and the other in Newport News; a different beauty supply shop in Hampton; and two Peninsula Shell stations.
On June 29, about 8:30 p.m., the suspect entered the Ritz Camera store at North Military Highway and Poplar Hall Drive in Norfolk and asked to see a camera. When the clerk turned away, the suspect pulled out an automatic handgun and demanded three Panasonic camcorders and three Nikon 8mm camcorders.
The robber placed the items in a black nylon bag and fled.
On July 5, he struck again in Norfolk, robbing the Rentronics store at 6202 N. Military Highway at 1:20 p.m. He took seven watches and money.
The suspect is described as black, about 35 to 40 years old, 6 feet tall and about 200 pounds. He was clean shaven and had a short Afro hairstyle.
He may be driving a light green or avocado green late 1980s four-door sedan - possibly a Pontiac Grand Am or Chevrolet Celebrity. ILLUSTRATION: Drawing
Sketch of the suspect.
KEYWORDS: ROBBERIES by CNB