Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, December 13, 1994                   TAG: 9412130094
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: LISA APPLEGATE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

CARS VANDALIZED; MAN ARRESTED

Jason Mark Harper, of the 1000 block of South Main Street, has been charged with four counts of felony auto theft, two counts of vehicle tampering and three counts of hit and run, according to a police press release.

Blacksburg police unwittingly began their investigation into the string of crimes when officers reported to a house in the 100 block of Hemlock Drive. They found a car that had been broken into and rolled 200 feet downhill into a large tree.

A stolen utility vehicle then was found crashed into a corner of a house in the 400 block of Harrell Street, and soon after, a car in the 700 block of South Main Street was found with a smashed window, the release said.

In the 400 block of Warren Street, police found a car that had been broken into and rolled out of the driveway and into two mailboxes across the street. The interior of another car at the same location had been ransacked.

As police investigated this final incident, a man walked by who fit the description of the driver in the utility-vehicle accident. Police watched as the man tried to steal another car on nearby Green Street.