THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, April 11, 1995 TAG: 9504110317
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MIKE MATHER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Short : 41 lines
A thief snatched a luxury sedan from the home of an assistant city manager and wrecked the Chrysler New Yorker when he jumped out to escape police late Monday.
The car - which belonged to the parents of Shurl Montgomery, who are visiting from Florida - rolled into a residence on C Avenue. The sedan and the house were slightly damaged, police said.
The short but swift driver - police said he was 4 foot 4, and probably a kid - disappeared into the darkness along with as many as three passengers. None was caught.
Police spokesman Larry Hill said the white Chrysler disappeared from Montgomery's Bordeaux Place home in Lafayette Shores sometime after 7:10 p.m. Sunday.
Just after 9 p.m. on Monday, officers M.L. Phillips and J. Andreano were sent into Huntersville to look for what residents said was a suspicious car cruising the neighborhood, Hill said.
Moments later, the officers saw the sedan near the intersection of C Avenue and Hunter Street and apparently startled the thieves.
The driver and passengers bailed out even before the officers turned on the roof-mounted strobes, Hill said.
The sedan was towed to the police compound.
Montgomery declined to talk about the case.
Although car thefts in Norfolk have dropped dramatically in four years, police say thieves this year have set a brisk pace.
Last year Norfolk led the region in reported car thefts with 1,810.
KEYWORDS: CAR THEFT AUTOMOBILE THEFT by CNB