THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, June 14, 1996 TAG: 9606130185
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JANIE BRYANT, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 41 lines
A Navy man and a teenage employee held down a robbery suspect until police arrived Sunday, foiling the suspect's getaway from a Port Norfolk bakery, according to an employee.
The robbery occurred about 11:30 a.m. at the Sweet Temptations bakery in the 2700 block of Detroit St., police said.
Diana Hammond, an employee, said her husband, Petty Officer 1st Class Marc Hammond, was in the store with her. The owner had to go out.
Hammond had suggested that her husband come in so that she could spend some time with him before he went out to sea this week.
The Hammonds were sharing a pizza for lunch when the suspect walked in and demanded money from the register and her husband's wallet, she said.
Hammond said she kept her eyes ``peeled'' on what looked like a gun the man was holding under a towel. But the robber began to get nervous and the towel over his hand slipped enough that Hammond could see what appeared to be a thick wooden dog brush.
``I said, `Marc, that's not a gun.' About that time he started for the door, and my husband followed and pulled him back,'' she said.
Hammond said the suspect was a smaller man than her husband but that the suspect struggled wildly to get away, knocking over the cash register and sending papers flying everywhere.
She called Rashad Cuffee, a 16-year-old employee, from the back of the store to help. The teenager had been washing dishes with the radio on and had been unaware of what was happening, she said.
Cuffee, a wrestler at Deep Creek High School, used the robber's towel to tie the suspect's feet and helped hold the man down until police arrived.
Hammond said she doesn't know if she would have been as calm if her husband had not been there. But she definitely thinks he's a hero.
``Most of the time, people get away, and I think it's important that some people do stand up,'' Hammond said.
Police arrested Reginald Irvin Howell, 33, and charged him with two counts of armed robbery, according to police spokesperson Amber Whittaker.
KEYWORDS: ROBBERY by CNB