THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, January 18, 1997 TAG: 9701180359
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MIKE MATHER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 57 lines
A man on trial for auto theft Friday showed up at the courthouse in a stolen car, police said.
He, the car's driver and a third man were arrested after leaving court and traveling across the street to a 7-Eleven.
Police said this is what happened:
In court for a preliminary hearing Friday morning, 20-year-old Tony Brite asked for, and was granted, a delay in his case. Brite and his two companions left the building.
The auto-squad detective helping prosecute the case followed Brite outside and watched him get into a shiny new Volvo with New York license plates.
The detective, Gary Nelson, checked the plates. The dispatcher told him the plates should have been on a Mercedes. And she alerted him that an identical Volvo had been stolen from a Chesapeake dealership Thursday morning.
The detective tailed the car down Princess Anne Road to the convenience store, where Brite and his companions went inside.
Few places in the city see a higher concentration of police officers than that 7-Eleven and the McDonald's restaurant next door, which are both across the street from the First Precinct. Officers who work in the headquarters building or who or are on break from testifying in court frequently stop there for snacks or lunch.
Brite had blundered into a hive of police activity.
Outside the store, the detective radioed for backup. Media relations Officer Mike Carey, who had stopped for a doughnut, was already inside the store. Three other cops - Officers Jim Elliott, Bill Matos and Scott Humphrey - were just a moment away. When the men returned to the car, the officers converged.
All suspects were arrested peacefully. A check of the car's identification number showed it was indeed stolen.
Auto-squad Sgt. Pat Gough said Brite and the two other men are ``household names'' among his detectives. In fact, the stolen car's driver, 19-year-old Cedric Henderson, had pleaded guilty Monday to auto theft.
Police said the three men are part of a larger car-theft ring called ``The Firm.'' That organization has frustrated detectives because the members are frequently prosecuted but almost always avoid substantial jail time, Gough said.
Court records show numerous traffic and felony convictions and several pending charges for Brite, Henderson and the third man arrested Friday, Lamont A. Jackson.
Court records list Brite's address in the 1500 block of Mill Oak Drive and Henderson's in the 5500 block of Bound Brook Court, both in Virginia Beach. No current address for Jackson, also apparently of Virginia Beach, was available.
When Brite and Henderson showed up for court in the stolen car Friday, ``that epitomizes our frustration and shows their unmitigated gall,'' Gough said.
Chesapeake police spokeswoman Elizabeth Jones said Henderson was charged Friday with stealing the Volvo. Other charges against Henderson and the two men with him were being considered, police said.
KEYWORDS: AUTO THEFT