THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, February 9, 1995 TAG: 9502090433
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ANGELITA PLEMMER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 65 lines
A former Norfolk police officer was convicted Wednesday of shooting an unarmed Kmart security guard last year while trying to steal a microwave oven.
John R. Langowski was found guilty of malicious wounding and petty larceny in the April 1 incident at Chimney Hill Shopping Center.
The Circuit Court jury recommended that he receive 20 years in prison and a $20,000 fine for shooting the guard, Bradley Bell, and a 12-month jail sentence and $1,000 fine for the theft charge.
The trouble began on Good Friday, when a Kmart supervisor in the electronics department noticed a well-dressed man heading for the door with a $189 Sharp microwave oven in his shopping cart.
The supervisor notified the head of the store's security, who stopped Langowski as he left the store without having paid for the appliance.
The two men and several other employees went back into the store after Langowski insisted he had exchanged a faulty microwave for a new one. He said he had a receipt in his car.
Inside the store, Bell remained with Langowski while the head of store security went to his office to retrieve a surveillance video. The video showed Langowski pushing the cart through several aisles but did not show him making any transactions.
Witnesses testified that Bell, who had just come to work, was told to detain Langowski until the head of security returned with the video.
Langowski started to leave, witnesses testified, and he shot Bell in the throat with a .22-caliber pistol after the guard tried to stop him.
As Bell fell to the floor, panic erupted inside the crowded store. Langowski fled, running past several other employees and customers, and sped away in his red Mustang.
Shortly after the surveillance video was shown on TV newscasts that night, police received numerous calls identifying the suspect as Langowski. On Easter Sunday, Langowski turned himself in to police.
Langowski, who also pleaded guilty to using a firearm while committing a felony, will be sentenced April 10.
Langowski was suspended indefinitely without pay from the Norfolk Police Department after he pleaded guilty in August 1993 to a misdemeanor charge of assault and battery against his wife.
He was convicted last week in Hampton on robbery and firearms charges, and he was accused of robbing a McDonald's in James City County last year. He also faces charges for an incident in Suffolk.
KEYWORDS: ASSAULT SHOOTING ROBBERY by CNB