THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, June 7, 1995 TAG: 9506070467
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY LANE DEGREGORY AND PAUL SOUTH, STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: DUCK LENGTH: Medium: 71 lines
The usual tranquillity of this resort community on the Outer Banks has been shattered by what is a common occurrence in big cities - the robbery of a pizza delivery driver by a masked gunman.
The Monday night holdup was the first crime of that sort anybody in the Dare County Sheriff's Department could remember.
``We certainly don't like to see things like this,'' Chief Deputy Rodney Midgett said. ``Armed robberies don't happen often on the Outer Banks. We've been really fortunate so far.
``But this may no longer be the nice, little, sleepy beach community we once had down here.''
And in an unrelated incident in Kill Devil Hills, an apparent domestic dispute Tuesday morning resulted in the stabbing of a Virginia Beach man.
The pizza driver was robbed while trying to drop off an evening order, Midgett said.
About 9:55 Monday night, a delivery man from Pizzazz Pizza at Loblolly Pines Shopping Center got a call to go to an oceanfront residence in Duck, Midgett said. When he got there, the lights at the house - a rental cottage - were on. But no one was home.
``The delivery man was standing on the porch when someone who was standing on the landing leading to the beach approached him with what appeared to be a handgun,'' Midgett said. ``The person was wearing a ski mask and demanded that the delivery man drop the pizza, leave all his money, and get back in his car. The delivery man left everything on the ground, walked back to his car and drove away.
``There were no injuries,'' said Midgett. ``The delivery man called the police from a nearby house. We still have a lot of work to do on this investigation.''
Because it was dark, Midgett said, the delivery man could not tell what kind of a gun the robber was carrying. According to the 23-year-old delivery man - who Midgett declined to identify - the robber was about 6 feet tall, weighed about 175 pounds and was slimly built. There were no witnesses, police said.
Midgett would not reveal how much money the robber took from the delivery man. The sheriff's chief deputy said it was ``everything he'd collected that night.'' Midgett also said he was satisfied that the vacationers renting the cottage where the robbery took place ``had nothing to do with it. They weren't at home at the time. And they weren't involved,'' he said.
Meanwhile, Kill Devil Hills police are continuing their investigation into the stabbing of Freddie Jones, who officers said was about 25.
Police said that about 11:30 a.m., Jones went to the Seaswept Drive residence his ex-girlfriend, Lora Bancroft, shares with Samuel Robert Silverthorne.
Jones and Bancroft got into an argument, police say, and Jones allegedly began assaulting her. Silverthorne allegedly intervened with a six-inch knife, and stabbed Jones in the chest, back and arms, police said.
Jones was taken to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, where he was in stable condition. Kill Devil Hills police Lt. Bill Walker said Bancroft suffered minor injuries, including a chipped tooth.
Silverthorne has been charged with assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill. He was being held in the Dare County detention Center on $10,000 bond.
Walker said that while domestic violence is common in the area, a stabbing of this type is a rarity.
``Domestic violence is a constant,'' he said. ``We probably have three to four domestic violence calls a week. Thank God they usually don't end in a serious assault like this.''
KEYWORDS: ROBBERY by CNB