Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, January 5, 1994 TAG: 9401050102
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: KATHY LOAN
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Long
Marcus Deangelo Williamson, 21, has faced the charge before.
The indictment reinstates felony shoplifting charges that were dismissed against Willimson in Montgomery County General District Court last November. Williamson was released from the Montgomery County Jail that same day just hours before the carjacking occurred.
Williamson had been charged in October with taking two drill-bit sets from Wal-Mart in Christiansburg valued at $60.
The felony charge was based on records that Williamson had two previous larceny convictions.
But the charge was thrown out because a certified copy of Williamson's record was not available during the District Court hearing.
Williamson is already on probation for drug convictions in Montgomery and Roanoke counties _ and if convicted of the charges of shoplifting, carjacking, abducting two men in Christiansburg and maliciously wounding one of them, faces additional prison time and serving the remaining portions of sentences that were suspended.
A preliminary hearing on the charges stemming from the carjacking is scheduled for later this month. Williamson is being held in the Montgomery County Jail.
Other indictments issued by the grand jury Monday included:
Grand larceny charges against four people accused of participating in a fake hold-up of the Blacksburg McDonalds.
Those accused of taking a briefcase, two bags of gift certificates, two bank deposit bags and money from the Turner Street McDonalds this past October are: Timmie Ray Shaw, 18, of Radford; Allen Wayne Odum, 22, of Christiansburg; Lewis Harlow Freeman, 21, of Blacksburg; and Monique Renea Collins, 21, of Blacksburg.
An employee of the fast-food restaurant told police he was robbed by a gunman who fled with an undisclosed amount of money.
But after an investigation, Blacksburg police say Odum, Freeman and Collins and an underage employee teamed up with Shaw - who did not work at the store - to stage the robbery and cover a theft of money from the safe.
The 16-year-old girl who worked at the store also was charged with grand larcen The 16-year-old girl who worked at the store also was charged with
grand larceny.
An embezzlement charge against a Manassas man charged with taking more than $15,000 from his mother's estate that he was overseeing.
William O. Bevins, 53, is accused of embezzling $15,750 from the estate of Maude Bell Bevins in January 1991. Williams Bevins was co-administrator of the estate, along with a sister. She has not been charged with any wrongdoing.
Investigator Ron Hamlin said two signatures were required on the account. William Bevins' sister, who also lives out of town, had pre-signed some checks as a matter of convenience for Bevins. Authorities allege he signed one of those checks and made it out to himself without authorization.
The problem came to light after a Christiansburg lawyer was appointed to take over the administration of the estate and reported the $15,000 expenditure to the Commonwealth's Attorney's office.
Rape and sodomy charges against a Montgomery County man accused of sexually assaulting a young girl and a young boy.
Christopher D. Bennett, 23, Merrimac Road, faces one charge of raping a 14-year-old girl in May or June.
The grand jury also returned three indictments accusing Bennett of forcing a young boy to commit sodomy, and one indictment charging Bennett with sodomizing the boy. These charges happened sometime during a three-month period from July to September last year.
Charges against a Montgomery County man, who is accused - during a short, high-speed pursuit last fall - of maliciously wounding and attempting to maliciously wound two Blacksburg police officers.
Madison A. Linkous Jr., 63, of Oil Well Road in Merrimac, was found guilty in a lower court in December of several traffic charges in connection with the eight-mile chase that ended with an injured Blacksburg police officer and five dented cars.
The pursuit started on South Main Street, continued into Merrimac and ended on Prices Fork Road near Virginia Tech. The felony indictments issued this week accuse Linkous of maliciously wounding Sgt. Harrison Vaughan and attempting to wound Lt. Kim Crannis.
Police gave this account of the pursuit:
Linkous ran a stop sign at Merrimac and Prices Fork roads, then swerved near a Blacksburg police car driven by Crannis. Crannis said the car attempted to ram the police cruiser but she backed out of the way, then joined a Montgomery County deputy in the pursuit.
Linkous drove between two lanes of traffic and struck four cars that were stopped for a traffic light. His car's left front tire blew out. Vaughan had his police car in a left-turn lane near the Virginia Tech Anaerobe Laboratory - facing the approaching pursuit - and it was struck by the speeding car.
Vaughan was saved from serious injury by the air bag in his cruiser, but sustained neck and back injuries and is still receiving medical treatment.
Charges of arson and breaking and entering against a Pittsylvania County man accused of burning a Christiansburg woman's home.
Carter Monroe Clay, 41, is accused of setting an Oct. 4 fire at a house on the 700 block of Lawn Drive, the home of a woman he had previously dated. The fire caused about $50,000 damage.
by CNB