DATE: Tuesday, August 19, 1997              TAG: 9708190282

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B2   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY CINDY CLAYTON, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                    LENGTH:   50 lines

POLICE RELEASE SKETCH OF SUSPECT IN HOLDUP, CARJACKING NEAR BANK

Police have released a composite sketch of the suspect in Saturday afternoon's violent carjacking in front of a bank at the Timberlake Shopping Center.

The man is described as black with a dark complexion, between 30 and 40 years old, 5 feet 9 inches to 6 feet tall and weighing 180 to 200 pounds with a stocky build. He had a thin mustache and short hair with some gray in it. He had a round face with large, bloodshot eyes.

He wore a gold ring on his right hand and was last seen wearing a white T-shirt with green pinstripes and knee-length, green shorts.

The suspect should be considered armed and extremely dangerous, police said.

The man pointed a gun at a woman who had stopped to make a deposit Saturday at First Union Bank at the shopping center, in the 4200 block of Holland Road, police said. As she walked to the after-hours depository, the suspect came around the corner of the building, pointed a gun at her and demanded the money. She threw the bag at him, but it landed on the ground, police said.

The man picked up the bag and, still pointing the gun at her, told the woman to get back into her car. She refused, and the man turned and walked across the shopping center parking lot.

The woman got into her Ford Bronco and followed the man, who turned and confronted her with the gun. She stopped, and he turned and ran away.

He headed to Holland Road, where he confronted several motorists who had stopped for a traffic light. The man tried unsuccessfully to carjack three other vehicles, firing at two of the drivers, police said. No one was reported injured.

On the fifth try, he approached a car, pointed the gun at a 20-year-old Virginia Beach woman and ordered her out of the car. She complied, and he got in and sped off.

Norfolk police said they found the car Sunday night in the Young Terrace section of that city.

The gunman faces several felony charges including armed robbery, attempted abduction, several counts of attempted carjacking, carjacking, attempted murder and several counts of using a gun while committing a felony, police said.

Anyone with information about the gunman or who may have witnessed the crimes is asked to call Crime Solvers at 427-0000. ILLUSTRATION: Drawing

Beach police released this sketch of the suspect in

Saturday's robbery at Timberlake Shopping Center. KEYWORDS: ROBBERY CARJACKING

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