THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, September 15, 1994 TAG: 9409150454
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MIKE MATHER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 79 lines
The gunman accused of invading a Stumpy Lake area home Tuesday and holding two children hostage was to report to correctional boot camp Monday after being convicted last month of several burglaries.
He was free on bond in the meantime, court records show.
Moises Roman, 18, of the 2100 block of Brush Hill Lane in Bellwood Estates, held a girl and her brother hostage during a nine-hour standoff with a SWAT team, police said.
The standoff started at 4 p.m. when, police said, Roman entered the home, took the brother and sister captive, and told their mother to go to a bank and withdraw money. The mother left and called police.
The ordeal in the 4500 block of Hollingsworth Court, not far from where Roman lived, ended about 1 a.m. Wednesday after the police Hostage Negotiation Team persuaded Roman to release the children and surrender peacefully.
Roman, who was armed with a medium-caliber handgun, was charged with 10 felonies, including abduction, rape and extortion.
Those charges were added to a criminal record that dates to Roman's pre-teen years, court records and police sources said.
Two months ago, Roman - an unemployed high-school dropout - pleaded guilty in Virginia Beach Circuit Court to burglarizing at least four neighboring Newtown Arch apartments. He was living there with a friend.
Roman told Detective Roger Frederick that he stole to support his 17-year-old girlfriend, who was pregnant with twins, court records show.
Although the maximum sentence for the four crimes is 75 years, Judge Alan Rosenblatt sentenced Roman on Aug. 23 to eight years. That sentence was suspended on condition that Roman attend a Shock Incarceration Program - commonly referred to as boot camp for young criminals - and complete other court-imposed requirements.
Roman was supposed to report to the city jail parking lot Monday morning for transfer to the Southampton Correctional Complex in Capron.
After his family moved to Brush Hill Lane five years ago, several homes and cars were broken into. Roman, who was still a juvenile, was suspected in most of the burglaries, and convicted of at least one, a police source said.
In one case, Roman broke into the Bellwood Estates home of a police officer, stealing the officer's gun, the source said.
In March 1993, Roman's brother took the gun to Salem Middle School. The weapon was found when the brother dropped it out of a book bag, police and school officials said.
Moises Roman was convicted in 1993 of carrying a concealed weapon, and was investigated for the alleged molestation of a 3-year-old neighborhood girl, according to court records and police sources. The molestation case never went to court.
In the standoff with police, Roman entered the home with a gun after the boy answered the front door. Earlier, police said, Roman had knocked on the doors of several neighborhood houses.
Police said there is no evidence that Roman knew the family.
The boy was released at midnight; the girl, about 20 minutes later. Forty minutes later, Roman walked out of the house with his hands above his head.
Roman has been charged with three counts of using a firearm during the commission of a felony, two counts of abduction with the intent to extort, attempted robbery, extortion, armed burglary with the intent to rob, abduction for immoral purposes, and rape.
He is being held in the city jail without bond.
His next court appearance will be determined at a hearing on Sept. 28. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by LAWRENCE JACKSON/
Moises Roman, 18, of Virginia Beach, surrenders to the SWAT team. He
was arrested about 1 a.m. Wednesday, accused of invading the home
and holding a girl and her brother hostage for nine hours.
Color photo
Two months ago, Moises Roman, an unemployed high-school dropout,
pleaded guilty to burglarizing at least four apartments.
KEYWORDS: RAPE HOSTAGE KIDNAPPING ABDUCTION BURGLARY by CNB