THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, June 24, 1995 TAG: 9506240352
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARA STANLEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 71 lines
Police early Friday captured an escaped prisoner who disarmed a deputy sheriff and eluded police for almost 36 hours.
About 2 a.m., a K-9 dog led police to Terrance L. Agnew, who was hiding in the backyard of a house on the 1200 block of Courtney Ave. - about three doors away from his girlfriend's house.
The escapee was still armed with the .38-caliber Smith & Wesson revolver he took when he overpowered Chester V. Haas Jr., a 63-year-old Norfolk sheriff's deputy, cuffed him to a chain-link fence and commandeered his car, police said.
In additon to the gun, police found a handcuff key on Agnew, police spokesman Larry Hill said. The inmate apparently used a key to free himself while Haas was transporting him back to the Hampton City Jail Wednesday afternoon.
About 50 officers searched a house on the 1200 block of Goff St. and combed a two-block area around the dwelling late Thursday.
Police originally thought Agnew, 27, was hiding in the house, but residents told them he had fled out a back door, Hill said.
``We were hoping. . . . when he was not in the house that he was around the house,'' Hill said.
Just as a search of the area was being completed, K-9 Unit officers W.B. Tindell and K.F. Callis, along with Nikki, a 5-year-old German shepherd, found Agnew. No shots were fired, police said.
Agnew's location was discovered about 10:30 p.m. Thursday when police spotted and stopped a 1991 Eagle Talon that Agnew was believed to have stolen at gunpoint Wednesday night after he abandoned the deputy's car.
Agnew was not in the Talon. But a woman and a 13-year-old boy in the car told police Agnew had been in the Goff Street house and that he gave them the car to go to the store, police said.
Police cordoned off the area between Goff Street and Princess Anne Road to search the area and the home. There were about three or four people in the home at the time of the search, but Agnew was not found, Hill said.
Agnew's girlfriend lives in the Goff Street home, Hill said.
It is believed Agnew freed himself from handcuffs and leg irons using the key that he kept between the sole and the upper part of one of the basketball shoes he was wearing, said George Schaefer, a sheriff's department spokesman.
Departmental regulations called for two deputies to accompany Agnew. Haas was placed on administrative leave pending further investigation, Schaefer said.
Agnew left the deputy chained to a fence near Military Circle Shopping Center and took off in the sheriff's department car. The Eagle Talon was stolen not far from where the deputy's car was recovered.
Agnew was serving a 52-year sentence for robbery convictions in Norfolk and Hampton. He was awaiting trial on 17 other robbery charges.
After the arrest Friday, two Norfolk police officers transported a handcuffed Agnew to the Police Operations Center on Virginia Beach Boulevard ``after searching him thoroughly,'' Hill said.
Agnew was charged with abduction and escape. He was also charged in the theft at gunpoint of the Talon, use of a firearm while committing a felony and use of a firearm by a convicted felon. He is scheduled to appear in Norfolk District Court at 9 a.m. Monday, Hill said. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
Agnew
Color map
KEYWORDS: ESCAPE PRISONER by CNB