THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, November 27, 1994 TAG: 9411270099
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE STONE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 135 lines
Eye to eye in a standoff with a drunk reaching for a gun, Chesapeake officer David L. Holcombe might easily have pulled the trigger on his revolver.
Instead, he relied on intuition, savvy and brute force and wrestled the man to the ground.
In the process, he unknowingly nabbed a Virginia Beach murder suspect who, after sobering up, realized how lucky he'd been.
``He thanked me for not killing him,'' Holcombe said Saturday.
Virginia Beach police heaped credit Saturday on Holcombe, 30, for his role in linking the arrest in Chesapeake to a double shooting at a Virginia Beach motel late Thursday night.
Paul B. Hinkle, 39, is being held in the Virginia Beach City Jail without bond on charges of murder and malicious assault and two counts of using a firearm while committing a felony. He faces additional charges in Chesapeake for transporting a loaded firearm and being drunk in public.
Police said the victims were Hinkle's own brother and the brother's girlfriend. The motive remains unclear.
The shootings occurred Thursday night at the El Camino Motel on Diamond Springs Road near Shore Drive. William W. Hinkle, 35, staggered into the motel office at about 7:30 p.m., police said. He had been shot and told a clerk that his girlfriend, in Room 36, was injured.
Police and paramedics arrived within minutes, but it was too late for the woman. Janet L. Cope, 40, whose last known address was in the 100 block of Holland Drive, was pronounced dead at the scene.
William Hinkle, whose last known address was in the 1000 block of Parker Ave., Portsmouth, was taken to the Trauma Center at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital. He remained in critical condition Saturday.
Because of his injuries, Hinkle was able to tell investigators little. They were left to scour the area for witnesses.
Meanwhile, Officer Holcombe - an eight-year-veteran of the force - was on routine patrol. At about 8 p.m., dispatchers sent him on a call for a speeding, reckless driver in the 1800 block of English Court, just off South Military Highway near the Virginia Beach city line.
When he arrived, residents pointed to a dirt path where they said the speeding car had gone.
Holcombe parked his police cruiser and walked down the path, the only light coming from his flashlight. He spotted a red Camaro. Someone sat at the steering wheel.
Holcombe moved up along the driver's side of the car, but stayed behind the man.
Holcombe announced that he was a police officer and asked for identification.
The man said nothing.
``He turned and made eye contact with me, which was unusual,'' Holcombe said. ``I stepped forward and asked for ID again.''
Holcombe kept his flashlight on the man.
``His right hand started moving out of sight, over toward the passenger compartment of the Camaro,'' he said.
Holcombe swung the flashlight and the beam hit a black revolver on the passenger seat. Holcombe pulled his handgun and ordered him to freeze. He was so close he could raise his gun no higher than his waist.
The man's hand moved toward the weapon on the seat. His index finger extended in anticipation of meeting the trigger.
``I moved closer to him and had my weapon closer. It wasn't actually touching his face, but it was almost that close,'' Holcombe said. ``I hollered at him to stop. His hand stopped right over the top of the gun and he turned again and made that eye contact again. He still hadn't said one word the whole time I was there.''
In that split second, Holcombe acted, holstering his gun, and reaching into the car and to pul the man out.
``The car door was already partially open, so when I started pulling, the door came on open and he came out. Fortunately, that got him away from the gun.''
It was, Holcombe said, a touch-and-go situation.
``If he puts his hand on that gun, you don't have a choice. But he didn't put that hand on the gun and I had a choice,''
There was no resistance as Holcombe cuffed the man and took him back to the cruiser. The officer recovered the gun from the car and, after checking it, realized it had recently been fired.
Holcombe then tried to question the man. He said his name was Billy Wayne Hargrave. His driver's license confirmed that. But when Holcombe checked the man's Social Security number, two names came back and his suspicions increased.
Still, ``there was a real possibility that that would have been the conclusion of the investigation. You've got him in custody, you've got charges on him, and that's basically it,'' Holcombe said. But the man ``wasn't really cooperating at that point, just giving some haphazard answers that really didn't help.''
Holcombe's sixth sense kicked in. The more he pressed for information, the more confusing the answers became. The man gave three addresses, one ``just off Virginia Beach Boulevard.''
Another was an address on Holland Road, the same address as that of the woman to whom the car was registered. Hargrave said she was his girlfriend and that it was her car.
``As many people as I've interviewed, you get a feeling when there's something they are trying to conceal. There was something about his address he was trying to conceal,'' Holcombe said.
The third address he gave was Baker Road.
But the suspect said he had most recently lived on Diamond Springs Road - a fourth address - but then he tried to backtrack.
Minutes later, the police radio crackled with word of a killing in Virginia Beach - on Diamond Springs Road. Holcombe wanted more information; none was available.
Hargrave had tensed up, but denied knowing anything about any shooting. When Holcombe dropped the subject, Hargrave relaxed.
At police headquarters, Holcombe booked Hargrave on the gun and drinking charges and left him at the jail. Then Holcombe made a phone call. He tracked down the detectives handling the murder in Virginia Beach and told him about Hargrave. The detective said, ``hold everything'' and said he was on his way to Chesapeake.
Holcombe went back by the jail and told officers to hold Hargrave; that he might face additional charges. Then he went back to English Court to meet the murder investigator at about 10:30 p.m.
They compared notes. When they got to the car registration, Holcombe told the detective that the computer told him it was owned by a Janet L. Cope.
``He said, `That's my victim.' ''
Within hours, Holcombe had Hargrave back in his cruiser, transferring him to Virginia Beach where, at 3:15 a.m. Friday, he was charged with the double shooting at the El Camino.
Later in the day, police learned that Hargrave's real name was Paul B. Hinkle.
``It's kind of peculiar case,'' Holcombe said. ``We did a get a good bad guy off the streets.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by JOSEPH JOHN KOTLOWSKI, Staff
Chesapeake officer David L. Holcombe was a split second from
shooting Paul B. Hinkle, who's being held in a double shooting.
Photo
Hinkle
KEYWORDS: MURDER ARREST by CNB