Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 29, 1994 TAG: 9406290138
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C4 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Substitute Judge Woodrow Crook of General District Court on Tuesday reopened the case and then threw out the charges against Eric Van Frankenberger.
Crook authorized the issuance of arrest warrants for the man who used Eric's name and Social Security number after being stopped on Interstate 85 March 26 for driving 79 mph in a 55 mph zone.
On May 17, a General District judge convicted Eric in absentia of the two charges, fined him $155 and suspended his license for six months.
Amy Reynolds of Chester, Eric's mother, received two notices from the court saying her son owed the fines.
She took Eric's birth certificate to the clerk's office to have the charges dropped. But officials there said they did not have the authority, so Reynolds filed a motion for Tuesday's rehearing. She and Eric did not attend.
|- Associated Press
Williamsburg crimes
under investigation
WILLIAMSBURG - Police are investigating a string of robberies in Williamsburg's historic area, including an attempted robbery this past weekend in which a man allegedly was beaten up by four youths.
The Knoxville, Tenn., man was walking on Duke of Gloucester Street near Shields Tavern late Saturday night when he was approached by the youths, said investigator Jay Sexton of the Williamsburg Police Department.
The man told the youths that he did not have any money, police said. The man ran, but the youths chased him, pushed him to the ground and continued punching him, Sexton said. They ultimately fled without getting any money, Sexton said.
|- Associated Press
Charged teen-ager
ruled unfit for trial
FAIRFAX - A Fairfax County teen-ager, who was charged as a juvenile with three counts of felony murder stemming from a fatal wreck during a police chase, has been declared unfit to stand trial.
Arlington Commonwealth's Attorney Richard Trodden said the 18-year-old suffered extensive brain damage in a Falls Church accident.
The crash on Jan.17, 1993, killed Fairfax County elementary school Principal Emery Wayne Burchett and his two young daughters.
Results of a court-ordered medical examination were reported Monday to Arlington Juvenile and Domestic Relations Judge Jo Anne Alper, who ruled the teen-ager was incompetent for trial.
|- Associated Press
by CNB