DATE: Thursday, May 29, 1997                TAG: 9705290413
SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY JUNE ARNEY, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH                        LENGTH:   69 lines

3 RUNAWAY YOUTHS FROM THE PINES FACE LIFE IN PRISON CRIMES INCLUDE ABDUCTION, CARJACKING AND ROBBERY

Three Maryland youths face possible double-life terms for a carjacking, abuction and robbery committed within hours of running away from The Pines Residential Treatment Center in October.

After a trial that lasted several hours, Circuit Court Judge Johnny E. Morrison convicted Dominic D. Williamson, 17, David L. Brown, 16, and Anthony L. Braxton, 17, on the felony charges. Though juveniles, they were tried as adults.

The incident began late on Oct. 3 after the three youths ran away from The Pines about 7 p.m. while employees were distracted by a water leak in the laundry room, Pines officials have said. It is unclear whether the youths picked a lock or found a missing key, Pines officials have said.

Ken Barbee, a 55-year-old employee at Norfolk Naval Shipyard, testified that when he got home from work about midnight, the three youths confronted him in the parking lot of his apartment building.

Braxton, acting as if he had a gun concealed beneath his clothes, told Barbee to ``empty your pockets,'' Barbee testified.

Barbee threw down his keys and his wallet, which he said contained about $3 and credit cards. The youths fumbled with the keys, and Barbee said he helped them unlock the door to his Chevrolet Monte Carlo. They pushed him into the back seat.

In the minutes that followed, Barbee said he begged them to let him go.

``I was scared,'' he testified several times in answer to questions by prosecutor David L. Dayton.

Finally, after about an hour of driving around, the three youths let Barbee free as they drove westbound on I-64.

``They pulled to the left-hand side and put me out in the middle of the road,'' he testified. ``All this time, I was talking to them and begging them to let me go.''

Once free, Barbee flagged down a driver to help him.

Meanwhile, the youths continued on and crashed the car in Hampton after a brief police chase. Police were following them because the Monte Carlo matched the description of the getaway car in a convenience store theft minutes earlier, an officer testified.

Hampton police officer Lindsay Hooks caught Braxton fleeing the crashed car and found items belonging to Barbee in his pockets, he testified.

Braxton confessed to Hooks about the abduction and about taking money from a cash register at a Hampton convenience store. Hooks testified that Braxton told him, ``We were just trying to get back to Maryland.''

The two other youths were located a few hours later in a nearby neighborhood. Hampton police officer Karen Alba testified that she taped a conversation between Brown and Williamson as they sat in the back of her patrol car. In that conversation, they talked about Braxton turning on them.

The youths showed little emotion when the judge ruled. A sentencing hearing is set for Aug. 20. Carjacking is punishable by 15 years to life, robbery by 5 years to life and abduction by up to 10 years in prison.

``I'm just glad it's over,'' Barbee said after the trial. ``I hope I am able to sleep.''

Family members of two of the youths apologized to Barbee after court and told him they were glad he was not hurt, he said.

``I feel sorry for them,'' Barbee said. ``My thoughts and prayers go out to them.''

The three youths were among more than 40 residents of The Pines, a residential treatment center for troubled youths, who ran away from the facility last year. In 1995, residents ran away from The Pines at the rate of nearly one every five days. In 1996, that number dropped to about one every eight days. KEYWORDS: THE PINES RESIDENTIAL TREATMENT CENTER ABDUCTION

CARJACKING ROBBERY TRIAL RUNAWAYS

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