Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, August 14, 1993 TAG: 9308140047
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
HAMPTON - Police say three children have been linked to more than two dozen burglaries or thefts from homes since early July.
The suspects - ages 9, 10 and 12 - have been charged in two of the thefts and have been turned over to juvenile authorities.
"It is the youngest group of burglars we've dealt with in many years," Detective Lt. Ed Davis said Thursday.
Police say they believe the youngsters took goldfish from one house, a pair of tennis shoes from the porch of another - objects not usually considered targets for burglars.
The youths admitted to several thefts but gave no reason for their actions, Davis said.
Bicycles and fishing poles seemed to be their favorite targets. The children used the items for a few days, then "discarded them when they got tired of them," Davis said. - Associated Press
Ex-Smithsonian scientist guilty of smuggling pelts
ALEXANDRIA - A former Smithsonian Institution scientist was sentenced Friday to two years' probation for smuggling animal skins into the country.
U.S. District Judge Claude Hilton also ordered Richard Mitchell to pay a $1,000 fine.
Mitchell was convicted on the smuggling charges but acquitted in July of charges he misused his job for financial gain. He was accused of using his position to organize a business assisting hunters on big-game hunts for rare species. Defense attorneys, however, said his work was scientific.
Mitchell was on leave from the Fish and Wildlife Service to the Smithsonian at the time of the violation. - Associated Press
Trooper struck by car; W.Va. driver charged
HARRISONBURG - A West Virginia man has been charged with attempted capital murder, accused of trying to run over a Virginia state trooper, police said.
Arthur Cook, 20, of Martinsburg, W.Va., was arrested Tuesday and was being held in the Rockingham County Jail without bond. If convicted, he faces life in prison.
Trooper John W. Styles received reports that Cook was driving erratically and attempted to stop him on Interstate 81 south of Harrisonburg on Tuesday, state police Sgt. B.R. Ritenour said.
Styles began chasing Cook's vehicle at speeds over 100 mph after Cook refused to pull over. Trooper Michael L. Bailey joined the chase after Cook left the interstate.
Cook finally stopped, but he put the car in reverse and tried to hit Bailey, who was standing behind Cook's vehicle, Ritenour said. The car grazed Bailey's leg, leaving him with minor injuries, he said. - Associated Press
City manager picks kin for $62,000 planning job
HAMPTON - City Manager Robert J. O'Neill Jr. has hired his younger brother to become Hampton's next planning director, city officials have announced.
Terry P. O'Neill, a 10-year veteran of the city Planning Department, beat out 10 other applicants from across the state for the job, Edmund Panzer, the city public works director, said Thursday. Panzer headed a five-member advisory committee that interviewed the candidates.
The committee recommended hiring Terry O'Neill, Panzer said. The planning director earns $62,000 a year.
When asked if the family tie played a role in the selection, Panzer said: "We obviously were aware of that. But we felt we were given the task of selecting the best qualified applicant, and that's what we did."
Terry O'Neill said his kinship to the city manager would play no role in their working relationship. "I don't have any reservations about it," he said. "While we're here, it's work. That's pretty much it."
Terry O'Neill, 35, joined the city staff in 1983, before his brother was city manager. - Associated Press
by CNB