THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, December 30, 1994 TAG: 9412300458
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE STONE AND JON FRANK, STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 100 lines
Police feared that the man who led them on a chase through the southern section of the city early Thursday was holding a hostage and had explosives in his van.
It turned out that he was armed with a blow torch and some bullets - but no gun - and that the woman with him was a friend, not a hostage.
Until they learned that, however, police took no chances.
They cornered the man in his van on a dead-end road with the North Landing River at his back. Dozens of police units were called in to seal off the area, a police helicopter swooped in for close observation, members of the SWAT team readied for a possible assault, and State Police bomb technicians were on the way.
And residents watched from their homes in fear.
``Was I scared? Yes!'' said Sharon Rowand, who was among about 20 people who live around the West Landing Marina where the chase ended. She and the rest were told by police to stay in their homes. ``I was sitting here shaking, and it wasn't from the cold.''
Police have charged John L. Owens III, 28, with reckless driving, driving with a suspended driver's license, eluding police, leaving the scene of an accident and disturbing the peace. The woman with Owens was not charged.
Spokesman Lou Thurston said the incident began at about 6 a.m. when police received a call that someone in a van was chasing a man on foot near General Booth Boulevard and Oceana Boulevard. About 10 minutes later, police spotted the van at General Booth and Culver Lane.
When the driver refused to stop, a chase started. At the intersection of General Booth and Princess Anne Road, the van hit another vehicle, causing minor damage. Still, the van did not stop.
Police chased the van down Princess Anne Road, through Pungo. It turned on West Neck Road and again onto West Landing Road, which ends at the old West Landing Marina on the North Landing River.
``I was walking out to get my newspaper and I heard all these sirens,'' said Joseph Pawlin, 30. ``He came straight down the road with three cop cars behind him.''
Pawlin said the van made a U-turn, passed between the pursuing police cars, and headed back up West Landing Road.
He didn't get far, however. More police units were converging on the area. They blocked the narrow road.
``Two minutes later, he was back again,'' Pawlin said. The van weaved around and between several small homes and sheds as police cars moved to block the road.
``He had nowhere to go,'' Pawlin said.
The van ran into a pile of debris, apparently in an effort to get past the police cars. Instead, it came to a halt in the debris.
Owens refused to leave the van, however. Instead, after a few minutes, ``He lit up a big ol' propane torch and kept firing it up,'' Rowand said. ``The whole inside of the van was orange. The helicopter came down low and he yelled, `Get out of here! Get out of here right now!' '' She said he waved the torch at the chopper.
At one point, reaching out from his window, he used the torch to cut a side mirror off the van.
Residents who knew Owens told police that he had previously had explosives in his van. ``My boy said he had seen two sticks of dynamite in there himself,'' Pawlin said.
That, plus fears that the woman in the van might be there against her will, forced police to take every possible precaution, Thurston said.
Heavily-armed SWAT team members were suiting up and getting ready to move into position when, at about 8 a.m., Owens agreed to leave the van.
Inside, police found several knives, a hatchet, a small amount of ammunition and the propane torch with a small fuel tank. There were no explosives. They also found a fairly new Raleigh mountain bike, an old cast iron stove, clothing and tools. Police used mirrors and flashlights to search the van before it was towed.
George Nelson, part-owner of the property where the pursuit ended, said Owens had often done odd jobs for him in exchange for meals.
``When he was in here doing this work, he was normal,'' said the 73-year-old Nelson, who said he has known Owens since he was a young boy. Owens' mother, Nelson said, grew up in a nearby house on West Neck Road.
Nelson said Owens telephoned him on Wednesday night, offering to paint some interior walls in Nelson's home Thursday morning.
``He said he was going to come down here and help me,'' Nelson said.
Nelson was just getting out of bed Thursday morning when he heard the sirens and saw Owens' van near the pile of debris just behind Nelson's house.
Owens has no known address. Local residents said he had been living in his van since cold weather moved in.
His other place to sleep was a small camper trailer parked nearby.
The white van carried Virginia plates ``WD MASTER.'' Residents said that stands for ``wood master'' and that Owens sometimes made beds to earn money.
``They're nice beds. I have one in my room,'' said Patrick Springer, 13, who worked for Owens for one day until his mother told him to quit.
Springer said Owens was troubled by the death of his mother and had been without a home for some time. ILLUSTRATION: Map
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KEYWORDS: HIGH-SPEED CHASES ARREST by CNB