THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, December 4, 1994 TAG: 9412040061
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PERRY PARKS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY LENGTH: Short : 47 lines
Police had fruitlessly chased every tip and were fresh out of leads - until a call came on the Crime Line about the jewelry-store robbery of about $52,000 in stolen rings on Halloween night.
Acting on information from the anonymous call, police traveled to Kill Devil Hills and arrested a man, Elizabeth City Police Capt. W.O. Leary said.
``We had nowhere to go,'' Leary said of the city's second-costliest robbery this year. ``We were running ourselves ragged on this thing.
``Without the Crime Line tip, I don't know if this case would have been solved, because all leads were exhausted. I gave my appreciation to the caller and stressed that we need more cooperative individuals reporting crimes.''
Larry Gilbert Lamb Jr., 29, of Fox Street in Kill Devil Hills was charged with robbery with a dangerous weapon, Leary said. He was released on bond Thursday.
Lamb is the son of Camden County Commissioner Larry Lamb, officials said.
After 6 p.m. on Oct. 31, a lone gunman entered Friedman's Jewelers in a shopping center off Ehringhaus Street, Leary said. Wearing coveralls, a ski mask, a fake mustache and gloves, the man held up three employees, smashed a display stand and took more than 20 rings. Some of the rings were valued at more than $5,000 each, Leary said.
Police had followed leads throughout the area and into Virginia, but had no luck until the anonymous call led police to two of the rings at a local pawn shop Wednesday. The tip also prompted Leary and Capt. W.G. Williams to make the Outer Banks arrest with Kill Devil Hills officer W.N. Walker later in the day, Leary said.
Meanwhile, Elizabeth City Police Lt. J.E. Tade and Investigator C.E. Kirby interviewed two witnesses in Pasquotank and Camden. Those interviews led to the recovery of another two rings.
Two more rings were recovered in Virginia, Leary said Saturday, and police hoped to collect a few others.
The Elizabeth City Crime Line pays anonymous tipsters for information on unsolved cases from a pool of private donations. Callers can be paid up to $1,000 but usually receive $50 to $100. The Crime Line number is 335-5555.
KEYWORDS: ROBBERIES ARREST by CNB