DATE: Sunday, April 27, 1997                TAG: 9704270033

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B3   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY SUSIE STOUGHTON, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: SUFFOLK                           LENGTH:   43 lines

STATION MANAGER IN SUFFOLK SHOT IN ROBBERY TRY

A gas station manager was shot twice Saturday morning in the city's second attempted daytime business robbery in three days.

Nothing was taken in either incident.

Police said Sam Crawford, 59, was taken to Obici Hospital with injuries that did not appear life threatening.

The attempted robbery happened at Eastover Exxon in the 700 block of Constance Road near downtown at about 11:23 a.m.

Two people - wearing women's clothing, but believed to be men - came in and one demanded money, Lt. W.M. Bunker said. Crawford was starting to comply when three shots were fired, he said.

Bunker said one bullet apparently hit Crawford in the arm and lower abdomen, then lodged in his back, and a second shot struck him in the buttocks and exited.

One suspect was described as black, 5-foot-9 to 6-foot with a slim build, about 130 pounds with a light complexion. The suspect was wearing a black shoulder-length wig, a black skin-tight polyester dress with a slit up the left side, flat-heeled shoes, a black purse with a long strap and sunglasses, and carrying a chrome .38-caliber semi-automatic pistol.

The second suspect was described as black, 5-foot-8 or 5-foot-9, stocky - about 160 to 170 pounds - with short, close-cut hair and wearing a black top and white pants.

Both were believed to be in their early 20s. They left the station and got into a car driven by a black male, waiting behind the building.

On Wednesday, a lone gunman went into the Holiday Food Store on Carolina Road and shot a female clerk in the face.

``The level of violence in these is really shocking,'' Bunker said.

Investigators have not ruled out the possibility that the incidents may be related, Bunker said.

Also, on Thursday, a music store in Suffolk West Shopping Center on West Constance Road was robbed of an undisclosed amount of money at gunpoint. No one was injured.

Anyone with information is asked to call police headquarters at 925-6350 or Crime Line at 539-1222. KEYWORDS: ROBBERY SHOOTING INJURIES

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