THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, August 31, 1995 TAG: 9508310427
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JON FRANK, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: Medium: 68 lines
For the second time in nine days, armed thieves blocked a dark Portsmouth street early Wednesday to stop and rob motorists. A woman was shot in the leg before escaping, and two boys - 13 and 17 - were arrested.
Police said young thieves constructed a barricade near Duke and Effingham streets at about 2 a.m. Officers said they used metal signs that advertised cigarettes at a nearby convenience store.
In the earlier robbery, on Aug. 22, police reported that a street was blocked by a bicycle rider who was with several other people. Officers said the bicyclist forced a man from his car at gunpoint, then stole the auto.
The 41-year-old woman who was wounded Wednesday was one of three people stopped at the barricade. She was not identified by police, but they reported she was hit by a bullet that shattered a window in her car. She was treated at Portsmouth General Hospital.
Two other people, a man on a bicycle, and a truck driver, were also stopped Wednesday morning.
When the wounded woman called police from a convenience store, officers chased the 13-year-old suspect into the Washington Park community. For the next two hours, a tactical response team surrounded an apartment where the boy was seen. The police raided the apartment at about 5:30 a.m. and took the boy into custody.
A 17-year-old was arrested later Wednesday morning. Both were charged with malicious wounding, robbery and two firearms violations.
Police spokesman Jimmy Ennis said the Wednesday incidents began when a man on a bicycle was stopped at the roadblock in the northbound lanes of the 1400 block of Effingham St. He was approached by several people, at least one of whom was armed.
The cyclist was forced to turn over his money and to get off of his bike. But the thieves left the cyclist, Ennis said, when a truck driver drove up to the roadblock and stopped.
The cyclist, who was not identified, ran away as the thieves approached the truck. The truck driver apparently saw what was happening and drove off. He later called police from Norfolk, Ennis said.
Moments later, the woman, who was returning home from her job at Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth, was stopped at the roadblock. The thieves approached her car and opened fire when she drove away.
Ennis said police arrived at Washington Park at about 2:30 a.m. and were interviewing the cyclist when he identified the 13-year-old and 17-year-old standing among onlookers.
The boy ran into Washington Park and entered an apartment. The tactical squad was called when officers were unable to get the teenager to open the door.
Ennis said others were likely involved, but no other arrests had been made by late Wednesday.
On Aug. 22, a Portsmouth man's car - a 1990 Grand Am - was stolen when his path was blocked by a man on a bicycle, and another man put a gun to his head and ordered him out of the car. Cash and the man's tennis shoes were taken.
The incident occurred about 11:15 p.m. in the 900 block of Argyle St. near Effingham, several blocks south of Wednesday morning's incident.
The victim reported that six people, all armed, were in the street when he was stopped. ILLUSTRATION: Staff Map
KEYWORDS: ARREST ROBBERY SHOOTING by CNB